“I want to be their hope,” said Erika Montano, rather emphatically. The 22-year-old from Cagayan de Oro city may have been smiling when she said this, but the fire in her eyes gave away what burns deep within.

She is one of several youth volunteers of KKKK Xavier Science Foundation, which works with ChildFund Philippines. They are known as online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) warriors. As an OSAEC warrior, she spreads awareness among her fellow children and youth about online sexual exploitation and abuse and how to prevent it. She also offers emotional support to other youth whose mental health might have been affected by problems at home and in school.

Erika and her fellow warriors were assigned to help the children and youth in five barangays that have been identified as hotspots of OSAEC cases in Cagayan de Oro city. The young people they met there were unaware that they were starting to be exploited online by strangers (for example, under the guise of ‘lovebombing’), but through the intervention of these OSAEC warriors, they were enlightened about how dangerous these online schemes are and stopped interacting with these perpetrators.

The sense of purpose and volunteerism is already innate in Erika. In her day-to-day life as a community and church volunteer, she always encounters children and youth needing guidance and support. So when she was invited by the Foundation to become an OSAEC warrior, she saw it as another opportunity to become a catalyst of change. Erika, who herself came close to becoming a victim of OSAEC, knows these stories all too well. She knew that sharing her own experience will help stop future OSAEC crimes.

In her first year as an OSAEC warrior, she trained in the basics of OSAEC and developed communication and other useful skills for advocating for this cause. She learned how to conduct surveys and gather data about online safety, which revealed to her that children and youth are the most vulnerable to sexual predators in the online sphere. Her favorite activity is giving mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services to victims of OSAEC. She feels great satisfaction in talking with them and making them feel they’re not going through their ordeal alone. Now in her second year, she was chosen to host the first online summit on OSAEC in Cagayan de Oro city. She is also training new warriors, not just by sharing what she has learned and experienced, but also by passing on the torch of hope.

Now that Erika is less than a year away from graduating from college, at some point she will no longer be considered as a youth and will have a different set of priorities. Does she plan to continue the fight against OSAEC? “I still want to be their hope,” she stresses. “Didn’t our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal say, ‘the youth is our country’s only hope’? So we must protect them, otherwise, what will our country’s future look like?” Although her Chemistry course may not have anything to do with OSAEC, it won’t stop her from reaching out to others, most especially the youth, with her message. “I will never stop telling stories that I know will inspire them and ignite the fire in their hearts to become OSAEC warriors.”