Table of Contents
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
CORE CONCEPT - Rights and Responsibilities Children’s Rights)
Lessons 4
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
4
Handout 2
Story
5
CORE CONCEPT - Rights & Responsibilities
Worksheet ‘Power of a Voice’
CORE CONCEPT: Human Dignity
6
7
8
Handout 4
Fr. Shay Cullen: The Man and the Mission
9
Handout 5
Background information on the Philippines
10
CORE CONCEPT – Interdependence/Rights and Responsibilities
11
Fact Sheet
Lesson 5
3
Handout 1
Handout 3
Lesson 3
Page
12
Interdependence
13
Action Project Ideas
14
Crossword
Crossword Answers
15
16
Lesson 1 (2 Class periods may be needed)
Concept - Rights and Responsibilities Children’s Rights)
Aim: To understand the concept of Rights and Responsibilities.
Students will learn about rights that are denied to many children in the Philippines.
Students will display an understanding of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child through
group work.
Students will become familiar with the work of Preda and their mission.
Introduction:
 Remind students of the concept of Rights and Responsibilities. “Every human being is
entitled to basic human rights. Each of us has responsibilities towards human beings in our
actions towards them.”
Class Activities:
 Divide class into groups/pairs. Distribute HANDOUT 1 on Children’s Rights. Display the 4
types (Survival, Development, Participation, Protection) as signs in 4 different places in
your classroom. Explore and explain these types.
 Read story about the Kids in Prison in the Philippines. HANDOUT 2
 From the list of rights in HANDOUT 1 ask groups to identify how many rights the children
are being denied in the story.

WALKING DEBATE:
Ask students/group to pick one of the rights from their list and to move to the relevant sign
on the wall that they feel corresponds to the right they have chosen. (For example students
might pick “Children have the right to be kept safe and not to be hurt, exploited or
neglected“from the list and would possibly decide to move to the Protection sign in the
classroom.)
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Allow discussion to follow. Encourage groups to discuss the importance of these rights and
try to prioritise them.
Get students back into their groups and ask them to write down what action they could take
to help children experiencing situations where they are being denied their rights, like
imprisoned children in the Philippines.
Invite feedback from pairs/groups and allow discussion on the rights being enjoyed/denied:
 What has contributed to the denial of these children’s rights?
 What might contribute to the changing of these children’s situation?
 Who are the people in these children’s lives who can take responsible action
(Government? Agencies? PREDA? Other human rights groups, us?)
Homework:
Ask students to write a short page imagining that they are one of the children in the story who are in
prison. Write down how you are feeling. What is difficult about this situation?
2
Handout 1
Rights & Responsibilities
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
What is in the Convention?
It is made up of an introduction (a preamble) and 54 articles. The articles cover the main rights that
must be protected.
These rights can be grouped under four headings:
1. Survival Rights
These rights recognise children’s right to life and to the things that they need in order to live, for
example food, shelter, an adequate income and access to health care.
2. Development Rights
These rights include what children need to reach their full potential, for example education, play
and leisure, access to information, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
3. Protection Rights
These rights ensure that children are protected from all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation.
4. Participation Rights
These rights recognise that children should be able to play an active role in their communities and
societies, and that they have a say in things that affect their lives.
What rights are included in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?
These are some of the rights covered by the Convention:
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Children have the right to enough food and clean water.
Children have the right to be with their family or those who will care for them.
Children have the right to health care.
Children have the right to an adequate standard of living.
Children have the right to play.
Children have the right to free education.
Children have the right to speak their own language and practise their own religion.
Children have the right to be kept safe and not to be hurt, exploited or neglected.
Children must not be used as cheap labour or as soldiers.
Children have the right to express their own opinions and meet together to express their
views.
3
Handout 2
Story
My abiding memory was the smell. It was pungent. The smell of filth and sweat and body odour. A
few moments earlier in a clean and tidy reception room, decorated with photos of the current
director and former directors of the Youth Correctional Centre, we were subjected to a diatribe.
According to this propaganda the children held in this facility were treated like residents in a first
class hotel. We were led to believe that they received regular exercise, went to classes, and were
treated to food that was checked by a dietician. The reality couldn’t have been more different.
When we saw the actual conditions the speech that we had just
heard seem comical; except there was nothing comical about
the sight that assaulted our eyes and the smells that insulted
our nostrils. As the 16 of us from Greystones parish together
with Fr. Shay Cullen were led around there was a stunned
silence at the sheer misery of the conditions. In each cell there
were over 25 boys and young men. Some as young as 13 years
old.
wouldn’t be enough floor space. Yes, they slept on the floor,
there were no beds, just a few flea ridden worn out blankets.
If they were to all lie down at the same time there wouldn’t be enough floor space. Yes, they slept
on the floor, there were no beds, just a few flea ridden worn out blankets. Their dinner was piled up
on indented trays, I can’t imagine any dietician certifying that this muck was suitable for human
consumption. In one corner of each cell was a small area that was
partitioned off with a low wall.
This was the shower and toilet area. For a shower there was a
piece of hose attached to a barrel of water. This area is also
where some of the younger boys are sexually abused by some
of the older inmates and sometimes by those charged with
caring for them. The often quoted saying ‘you wouldn’t put a
dog in there’ was never more appropriately used.
That anyone in their right mind considers this hellhole appropriate for human beings is beyond
belief. In this Youth Correctional Centre, (it wasn’t called a jail, the fact that the boys were locked
up behind bars is incidental) all the boys were there because they were charged with some crime.
We were led across the courtyard to another centre, again this was not a ‘Jail’ but it too had locked
gates and children behind bars. There were approaching 80 children locked up in the worst smelling
room I have ever had the misfortune of smelling. The children in this second centre were not there
because they had done anything wrong. No crime had been committed, they were there simply
because it is government policy to round up homeless children and keep them behind bars. Their
little lives consist of sitting squatting together like sardines. To get an education, or even to run
around like children everywhere love to do, is a luxury that evades these children. We left these two
barbaric institutions with very heavy hearts.
4
Lesson 2
CORE CONCEPT - Rights & Responsibilities
Aims
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Students will have a better understanding of the work of PREDA.
They will have a better understanding of the core concept Rights and Responsibilities.
Class Activities
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Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4H3PmiXQNg ‘Power of a Voice’ (7 mins
approx)
Get students to do worksheet (Handout 3) in small groups.
One student per group to report back.
General discussion on rights and responsibilities. Refer to this chapter in text book i.e. UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. What rights are the Filipino children not getting?
Have we a responsibility? What can we do to help? etc
Homework

Get students to think of ideas for an Action Project to help the young people suffering in the
Philippines.
5
Handout 3
Worksheet for Youtube clip of ‘Power of a Voice’
1. How did Damien Dempsey become involved with PREDA?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What does PREDA stand for?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. In what year was PREDA founded?
________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the main goal of the PREDA centre?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. What made Fr. Shay act and do something for the Filipino people?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. From watching at this clip, what human rights are these children being denied?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. Describe your feelings after watching this documentary.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. From watching this Youtube clip, we see how different people are helping Filipino children
in a practical way. Do you have any ideas as to how you and your class could help these
children in a practical way?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6
Lesson 3
CORE CONCEPT: Human Dignity
(Also relevant to other key concepts, adapt as you deem fit.)
Aim:
To encourage students to become more aware of the work of Fr. Shay Cullen (Preda
Foundation) and Preda Galway and their work towards restoring the human dignity
of the Filipino people.
Introduction: Remind students of the concept of Human Dignity. All humans should feel that they
are valued and respected.
Activities:
Students will read HANDOUT 4; Fr. Shay Cullen the Man and the Mission, and
the work PREDA do in empowering the rights of children.

Distribute HANDOUT 5; BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PHILIPPINES.
Using the map students will become familiar with where the Philippines is situated and
become aware of some statistics relating to the Philippines.

Distribute the Fr. Shay Cullen and the Preda Foundation Crossword and ask students to
complete it using the information contained in the previous two handouts.
Further Action:
1. Students might visit library/ computer room for research purposes and gather information
about Preda. This information could be assembled onto a wall display and allow the students
to relay this information to other classes by holding a Preda Awareness Day in the school.
Students could record this day and photos in the school newsletter or magazine.
2. Students can visit www.preda.org or www.preda.net or www.predagalway.org for further
information.
3. Students can click on Meteor Awards on www.preda.org
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Handout 4
Fr. Shay Cullen:
The Man and the Mission
Father Shay Cullen, nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize, is a Missionary priest from
Ireland and a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban and has worked protecting women
and children and human rights in the Philippines since 1969.
Born in Dublin, 27 March 1943, educated at Presentation College, Glasthule, Co. Dublin. He
completed his college education at St. Columban’s, Dalgan Park, Navan, Ireland and was ordained
in April 1969. Later he was assigned to parishes in Zambales and Olongapo City, Subic Bay that
year. His mission for justice and peace is ecumenical which means it is open to people of all faiths.
It is based on taking a stand for human rights and protecting the dignity of every person, in
particular exploited women and children.
Father Shay Cullen established Preda Foundation in Olongapo city, the Philippines in 1974 to
promote human rights, justice and peace. Believing that poverty, violence and child abuse are
barriers to peace and give rise to tyrants and torturers. He strives to eliminate child abuse and
promote respect for children's rights.
The twelve Preda projects are to educate for peace, free children from jails and give them a chance
to recover in therapeutic homes and have a happier life free from violence and abuse.
Fr. Shay Cullen is the author of Passion and Power an autobiography and he writes a weekly
column in The Manila Times that is published in other newspapers and on-line. He also writes
poetry, songs and is a media commentator on the issues of trafficking of women and children and
human rights violations.
He speaks fluent Filipino. He began Preda Fair Trade, in 1975, a successful movement that stands
against exploitation and greed and which helps to lift the poor to a life of dignity. The processing
and export of Preda dried mango help thousands of farmers. He oversees twelve major projects at
the Foundation including environmental protection and tree planting. With a present professional
staff of 72 the projects are expanding.
8
Handout 5
Background Information on
The Philippines.
Population
84,765,000
Capital and Population
Manila; 10,677,000
Area
300,000 square kilometres
(115,831 square miles)
Language
Filipino (based on Tagalog), English, and 8 major dialects
Religion
Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist
Currency
Philippine peso
Life Expectancy
70
GDP Per Capita
U.S. $4,600
Literacy Percent
96
9
Lessons 4
CORE CONCEPT – Interdependence/Rights and Responsibilities
Aims
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To understand what Interdependence means.
To appreciate that countries are linked and that we depend on other countries for
food/clothes/equipment etc
To understand what Fairtrade means
Introduction to PREDA
Class activities
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Explain the term Interdependence.
Get the students to explain how we are linked to other countries
Divide the class into small groups and get them to discuss clothes/food and other items that
we get from abroad.
Report back to the class.
Ask the students what their understanding of Fairtrade is. Ask if they buy Fairtrade
products
Refer to PREDA. Give a brief introduction. (See Fact Sheet)
Homework

To check in local supermarket how many if any Fairtrade products are for sale and to report
back to the class.
10
Fact Sheet:
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PREDA stands for People’s Recovery Empowerment Development Assistance foundation.
This organisation protects and promotes the human rights of Filipino people. PREDA’s
main focus is to rescue exploited children as well as to provide for their psychological,
educational and sociological needs. Fr. Shay Cullen (Society of St Columban’s) is founder
of the charity. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. He and his
PREDA team help children who are in prison, on drugs and fall prey to the sex trade.
PREDA established a strong programme that was attractive and supportive of young people.
The programme involves ‘listening to them, uplifting their dignity, their self-respect, their
growing self-confidence where they would get a vision for belief in themselves and for a
future’.
The PREDA support group was set up in February 2008 to meet the demand from members
of the public to help in various capacities to help support the work of PREDA based in the
Philippines. It is a very active group and is strongly supported by Damien Dempsey who did
a charity gig in the Warwick Hotel in February and raised €12,130. The money helped build
a recreational area for the children at the PREDA children’s centre in Olongapo city, north
of Manila, as well as pay for the resurfacing of the boys’ accommodation centre. Whatever
money was left over was spent providing emergency relief for children freed from prison or
rescued from lives of destitution and sexual servitude.
Members of our group have made a thought provoking and inspiring documentary entitled
‘Power of a Voice’, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4H3PmiXQNg This highlights
the problems facing PREDA, but ultimately how the fight against malevolent forms of
servitude and abuse against women is being won thanks to a committed PREDA team in the
Philippines, but also through such local action.
Some of the PREDA team and Akbay Theatre from the Philippines have travelled to Ireland
and have visited schools throughout the country. Their play highlights imprisonment, sexual
exploitation and lack of human rights suffered by a lot of young Filipino people.
PREDA also have Fair Trade products and one area that we are trying to promote is the
possibility of getting schools to order sports gear/polo shirts through PREDA. Not only will
it be cheaper, but also you will be supporting Fair Trade and a very worthy charity.
For further information, please log onto www.preda.org; www.predagalway.org or email
predagalway@gmail.com
11
Lesson 5
Interdependence (Computer Room www.preda.org)
Aim

To make students aware of PREDA and the work that they do, with particular reference to
the PREDA Fairtrade section.
Class activities
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Click on the PREDA Fairtrade link. Students can browse and familiarise themselves with
various Fairtrade products. Click on ‘Products’ and view food and juice products on offer.
What kind of Fairtrade food is available?
Click on ‘Catalogue 2010’ and view products on sale. Students could consider buying
products online and support Fairtrade.
Click on ‘Producers’ and students are shown a map of the Philippines and where the
Fairtrade producers work all over the country.
Homework

Direct students to ‘News’ and ask students to pick an article to read and report back to the
class next week (have a few articles photocopied for those who may not be online at home}
Action Project Ideas
 Fair-Trade Week. Second and Third week in March. Students could sell
PREDA Fairtrade products in the tuck-shop or canteen.
 Organise to get the school to buy a set of PREDA Fairtrade
jerseys/uniforms/PE gear.
 Students could help sell the Preda 2011 calendar.
 Students could order Fairtrade products and have a Christmas shop at school.
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13
Crossword
14
For Teacher Use: Crossword Answers
15