Kidzoona brings joy to hundreds of kids in Manila
By Robina Asido
An indoor playground owned by a Japan-based company has again brought joyful memories to children of poor families in Manila on Tuesday.
AEON Fantasy Group Philippines Inc. invited hundreds of children from the slum areas in Tondo to play and enjoy at the Kidzoona mobile playground they set up at Barangay 17 in Manila's first district.
They are targeting to accommodate a total of 500 kids a day, with 100 children expected to play for an hour every batch. The mobile playground is open from 10 am to 5pm from (August 6 to 8 or from Tuesday to Thursday.
Kids from Barangays 105, 17, 106, 107, 108, 129 and those who live inside the Manila North Cemetery were given free admission to the mobile playground. They were also given food, toys and school supplies from the AEON Fantasy and its 40 sponsors which include companies, private individuals, politicians as well as the Daily Manila Shimbun and Navi Manila.
In an interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, Tetsuhiro Masaru, the president and CEO of AEON Fantasy Group Philippines Inc., expressed hope that the kids will have happy and "good memories".
"Our purpose is to make the kids smile as much as possible. We know some kids cannot go to the playground because it's very far and of course very expensive to pay the admission fee... some kids cannot pay because it is expensive. That is why we go (to) their barangay. We try to make a good experience for everyone, this is our purpose for this activity," he said.
As part of its corporate social responsibilit, AEON Fantasy Group Philippines Inc. has been deploying its free indoor playground to different areas with poor families twice a year.
"Also every December we invite orphanages, some handicapped and special kids to our store in December. It's almost 3,000 kids in December. We tie up for example (with) Jollibee or McDo. We tie up with some tenant of the shopping mall to give Christmas presents to the orphanage, special kids. It's one of our activities. It's once a year we invite kids in our store," said Masaru.
Despite rainy weather, Jenelyn Dakusan, 30, a resident of Barangay 107 in Capulong, brought her three children, aged 10, seven and four, to the mobile playground.
Dakusan said her children were supposed to have their classes today, but she chose to bring them to the playground just for a day to give them a chance to play and enjoy.
"They (kids) were very happy. Even their mothers were happy. We all play there," she said.
In her speech, AEON Fantasy Group Philippines Inc. Special Project Department Manager Jen Kawasaki said that it is the second Kidzoona mobile playground activity. The first batch was set up in another covered court within the same barangay in March.
"This project of our company started when the restriction because of the COVID - 19 pandemic in 2022 was eased. This initiative of AEON Fantasy Group Philippines Inc. aims to help lessen the negative effect brought by COVID-19 among children due to several years of restrictions that kept them inside their houses," she said.
Although COVID-19 was ended, Kawasaki said the initiatives of their company which they called "mobile Kidzoona Barangay CSR" will continue to give joy and wonderful experiences to the next generation.
According to Kidzoona Development Supervisor James Inaspej, the mobile playground was first set up in Mandaluyong last October 2022. Then in Cubao on May 2023, Makati on July of the same year before it went to Barangay 17 in Tondo this year. DMS
