Full text of DOI:10.1111/1468-0033.00245

Drive and vision: the Museo Pambata
in Manila
Cristina Lim-Yuson
A children's museum with an impressive
urban outreach programme, the
Philippines' Museo Pambata is above all
a model of civic consciousness and
pride. The author is one of its founders
and is now the museum's executive
director and concept developer. She
holds a doctorate in Early Childhood
Education from the University of the
Philippines.
The Museo Pambata was a dream of three early education of children led me to set
unlikely people ± a city mayor and a up several pre-schools and a nationwide
mother-and-daughter team, each with a teacher-training facility. The three of us
distinct vision to give children the best answered the call to establish a children's
there is. The result was a magical `hands museum to provide opportunities for
on' museum.
Filipino children to develop their talents
and curiosity for learning.
The Mayor of Manila, Alfredo S. Lim, had
just returned from
a global UNICEF
Summit for Mayors in 1993 where they
had assessed and familiarized themselves
It began with a building
with the status of children in their urban The Elks Club Building was part of archi-
centres. The meeting had reaffirmed his tect Daniel Burnham's urban plan for
political commitment to uplifting the lives Manila in the early days of American
of children. The mother, Estefania Aldaba- colonization and was designed by the
Lim was a former Minister of Social Wel- American architect William Parsons in
fare and United Nations Special Repre- 1908±10. The City Council of Manila in
sentative for the International Year of the December 1994 passed a resolution to
Child in 1979 (with rank of Assistant lease this building for free to the Museo
Secretary General). In that capacity she Pambata Foundation for at least ten years.
had the awesome responsibility of raising
the consciousness of the world regarding It took several architects and creative
the unacceptable and miserable condi- designers to work on the museum plan.
tions of children: poverty, hunger, illi- A tandem of architects, Joselito Tecson, a
teracy, unnecessary deaths and gross talented creative designer, and the build-
violations of their human rights. I was ing architect, Mario Nabor, worked closely
the daughter, whose deep interest in the with the concept plans. The result, accor-
ding to cultural heritage expert Augusto F.
A father reads to children as part of the
storytelling programme in the poor urban
communities.
Villalon, `is one of the city's few first-rate
examples of architectural re-use which
completely respects the architecture of
Parsons'. This historic building remained
the same on the outside but the interior
underwent a complete change.
Room partitions were torn down, ceiling
beams exposed and verandas enclosed to
maximize use of space. This allowed for
seven theme areas:
Old Manila explores the diverse cultural
and technological heritage of the city,
including a replica of a Spanish galleon
and
a scaled-down historic Binondo
church. One section showcases Chinese
influences in Philippine culture and
features a typical ancestral stone house
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ISSN 1350-0775, Museum International (UNESCO, Paris), No. 205 (Vol. 52, No. 1, 2000)
ß UNESCO 2000
Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF (UK) and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148 (USA)

where children can try on costumes of puppet shows and workshops. The only
their grandmothers' time. Huge photo- museum collection contains children's
graphs of Filipino revolutionary heroes dolls, costumes and indigenous musical
are accompanied with listening phones in instruments donated by embassies and
English or Pilipino which recount their private collectors. Child-related activities
lives. Alongside are photos of young are often organized here.
heroes, boys and girls aged 10 to 14,
who were outstanding for their courag- Science Discovery on the second floor
eous acts of bravery.
covers a wide range of topics and seems
to be one of the most popular spots in the
The Environment theme room focuses on museum. From simple magnet experi-
a major concern with rapidly deteriorating ments to bubble fun to tinkering with
land use. A rain forest with a real waterfall parts of a jeep engine, activities are de-
contrasts with the barren, denuded forest signed to encourage the children's
shown opposite. Occasional storytelling participation. The moon rock from the
and drama presentations on the environ- collection of the astronauts Aldwin and
ment are held here.
Armstrong is on loan from NASA.
A very popular area is Children in the Career Options, like the Science area, has
Global Village. Inspired by UNICEF's changing exhibits. Youngsters are busiest
Convention on the Rights of the Child, it here as they play-act careers as mail
dramatically introduces visitors to the carrier, fire-fighter, architect, television
neglect, abuse and victimization of chil- broadcast journalist, editor and backstage
dren around the world. United Nations artist.
Agencies use the area for global events
such as campaigns to eradicate child Down the veranda corridor are a series of
labour, book launches, performances of mini-neighbourhood stores where chil-
Mini-neighbourhood stores are installed
in the veranda corridor.
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dren's socio-dramas take place. These are nationally known firm of Lord Cultural
the corner grocery store, news-stand, and Museum Planners of Canada as a
small town restaurant, shoe repair shop, museum with outstanding education pro-
drug store, bakery, fish and meat stall, rice grammes. One of these consists of Mobile
store and flower shop.
Libraries which reach out to street
children in the poor urban areas with
The Arts and Crafts Centre allows the twice-weekly story-telling sessions. Some
children to create `things from scrap' and fifteen areas have tapped parents to tell
workshops for street children are held in stories to their children who sell flowers
this area.
or cigarettes in the streets. One outcome
of these sessions was the establishment of
The `Where did I come from?' exhibit in Day Care Centres and an awareness of the
the Bodyworks theme room dominates the rights of children to education and play.
health section and also addresses issues The youngsters themselves undergo value
such as smoking, STD/AIDS, dental care, change and are motivated to read. A small
the physically handicapped and how very library collection of an initial 200 chil-
young children learn.
dren's books is turned over to the centres
after six to twelve months of story-telling.
Reaching out
Children from the public schools and
street centres audition to join the Mentor's
In the room devoted to the rights of the
child, a descendant of one of the
After four years of existence and nearing Programme in the field of drama, dance,
its one millionth visitor, the museum has visual arts, maths, science and music. A
Philippines' revolutionary heroes narrates gained recognition for its broad array of three-year activity supported by a private
a story about her famous grandparent.
activities and was cited by the inter- non-governmental group, it matches these
talented youngsters with senior mentors
patient enough to hone the children's
hidden talents. The 1998 Philippine
Centennial Celebration inspired the drama
group to perform playlets based on
heroes. Skits on STD/AIDS were per-
formed under the hot noonday sun in
the poor urban communities and in cere-
monial halls of international conferences.
The child performers, aged 10 to 13,
developed a love for theatre and a
glowing self-confidence.
The series of twelve children's books on
`
Career Options', a first attempt at pub-
lication, was cited by the Manila Book
Critics Circle, (1998) as an innovative pub-
lication using real-life role models. Mail
Carrier, Journalist, Architect, Firefighter,
Teacher, Scientist, Rural Doctor, Entre-
preneur, Police Officer, Artist, Farmer and
Priest are among the careers selected.
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Two-thirds of the books are pre-sold to
sponsors, who in turn distribute them to
poor and deserving children. The rest are
sold in bookstores.
The museum also operates a travelling
exhibit that goes to shopping malls
around the country. The first one cele-
brated the Philippines Centennial with
heroes of yesterday and today, entitled, `I
am Proud to be Filipino'. It included
computers that talked about the heroes,
costumes of a bygone era to try on, arts
and crafts to do and dioramas on
Philippine history. In an Asian country
much exposed to Western culture, where
young children ape Michael Jackson's
style and hang around the shopping malls,
the Museo Pambata brings this alternative
model, in the hope of capturing their
attention and curiosity for learning.
Funding all these initiatives took per- fund has been useful to bring in poor and A replica of a Spanish galleon features in
severance coupled with a supportive deserving children free of charge and the Old Manila exhibit.
press and a hard-working office staff. allow them to participate in all the
From the outset, the idea to persuade at activities and programmes.
least twenty `godparents' to give a once-
in-a-lifetime gift of
$250,000) each seemed impossible. As staff with hardly any museum experience,
1
million pesos The Museo Pambata has a lean and young
(
the museum grew from concept to reality, but a drive and vision to make learning for
the attraction grew and to date there are young children as exciting and wonderful
twenty-five godparents called Ninongs as it can be. The Board of Trustees
(
Godfather) and Ninangs (Godmother), continues to weave new ideas and is fully
whose endowment fund makes the Museo supported by the First Lady of the land
Pambata a financially viable project. This and the city of Manila.
■
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