Besides providing an education, alternative and community learning centres (which cater to marginalised youth and children not in the formal education system) provide some form of safety for the children, who may otherwise live within communities in isolated remote areas.

With their parents out working, sometimes doing multiple jobs so they can put food on the table, migrant and undocumented children are often left at home alone. Living in isolation, however, increases their vulnerability to neglect, violence and exploitation.

Working with these centres has been crucial in ensuring the success of the programme; the students trust their teachers, who are part of the community. The programme also ropes in senior students to conduct some trainings, making it sustainable for the long haul.

“From there, the relationship with the community is built, the trust (as well), and they are more open to… come to our programmes,” Jellferlyne said, adding that Global Shepherds also provided food aid to the learning centres they worked with.

Global Shepherds also built the capacity of the learning centres’ teachers. Through them, Mary Ann Enriquez, principal of the Home of Persuaded Education Community Learning Centre, learnt how to counsel and help students who came to her for help.

At Mary Ann’s centre, her students, comprising mostly children and teenagers of Filipino descent, learnt how to protect themselves from violence and abuse, and to identify a safety support system. Parents, too, were roped in to enhance these protections at home.

“I always encourage them to (report these instances to the authorities) because that is how we protect ourselves,” Mary Ann told UNICEF in a recent interview. “Even though we have no papers, we must speak up; if we keep quiet, the harassments will continue.”

Mary Ann, 40, was appreciative of the support she received from Global Shepherds and its team, saying her students and their parents are now more aware about child rights and have a better understanding of human rights as a whole – thanks to them.

She is particularly happy about the newfound role her secondary school-leavers have now. The project saw the setting up of a youth group where they are trained on child protection; previously, teachers were the ones conducting the programme.

Running the programme, however, has not been easy, with all sorts of unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Global Shepherds had to quickly adapt their approach from in-person to online implementation of activities.

Mary Ann and teachers at another Global Shepherds-supported learning centre UNICEF visited had to deal with movement restriction orders, school closures, lack of devices, limited internet connectivity, while also taking into account the loss of livelihoods and income and increased immigration raids experienced by communities during the pandemic.

For instance, students at Forum Peduli Pendidikan Anak Indonesia Alternative Learning Centre, a school for undocumented children and teenagers of Indonesian descent, did not have money to “top up” their mobile phones, their teachers said.