Young Filipino artist a top finalist in UNICEF Superhero Comic Contest
By: Unicef Philippines
Tags: Unicef, Illustration, Comics, Bullying, Superheroes

Twelve-year-old Annika Ocampo was overcome with excitement and disbelief when her comic superhero Althea earned thousands of votes, catapulting it to one of the top eight finalists globally in the UNICEF School Superhero Comic contest.

The recently concluded competition, which garnered 3,600 entries from children and young people all over the world, was launched in October 2018 by UNICEF to raise awareness to end violence in and around schools.

“I was excited but I also thought that other contestants’ art work were better than mine,” Annika muses. Annika’s is the only entry from the Philippines that made it to the final round of selection.

Annika’s character illustration of Althea, created through online digital software FireAlpaca, is a relatable, young female student who uses music to stop violence in schools.

“Althea uses her musical powers to inspire kids like me to stand up for ourselves, to beat The Silence and end violence in our schools. The blue light from her music wraps her listeners and brings out their own strength and courage to stop the violence on their own.”

“Althea plays the ukulele and sings gentle, calming songs. Music is a big part of the Filipino culture and Althea depends on music to calm her down,” Annika says.

Having had friends who were once bullied in school, Annika could somehow feel their pain. She would turn to music to calm her down just as her superhero Althea uses music during troubled times.

To create Althea, Annika took inspiration from an American alternative band whose popular songs conveyed the importance of one’s self-worth, and for which multitudes of its online fans have expressed gratitude for.

“Since I was in Grade 3, my older sister and I would listen to Twenty One Pilots. They’re popular and mainstream, and their lead singer plays the ukulele and sings about mental health. I listen to it a lot and I was glad that they released a new album at the time I was thinking of joining the superhero comic contest. It was great timing and it gave me a big inspiration,” she shares.

Twelve-year-old artist Annika Ocampo, whos entry for the UNICEF Superhero Comic Contest was shortlisted as one of the top 8 finalists globally. Photo courtesy of the subject.

Annika, a seventh grader from Laguna, took interest in drawing at a very young age. She has drawn multiple characters and written short stories whipped up from her creative imagination. Her parents and siblings have always supported her to keep developing her talents. It was in fact, her oldest sister Julia, 22, who encouraged her to join the UNICEF superhero comic contest and who guided her in keeping her ideas focused.

“My sister motivated me. As one who really loves music and wants to help a lot of people, I began thinking about it and said yes.

“I started drawing first but I wasn’t really good at focusing so I shifted to writing while I was in the middle of the sketch. The next week, I found out that the deadline was moved to a later date, so I went back to drawing again. I made four drafts and ended up finishing the last one at past midnight. The last draft became the final story,” Annika says.

“I’m doing art for a cause not just to feel good or just to have something to do, but also to help others,” she states.

And her superhero Althea can help bring the message to schoolchildren and young adults that being silent about violence in schools, particularly bullying, should finally be broken.

“No problem can be solved without taking action. Bullying and violence is a big problem. The only way to solve it is to speak out. You don’t have much power but you can speak out to save somebody or yourself,” Annika says.

UNICEF Philippines is working with Annika and her parents to produce an expanded story of school superhero Althea to further raise awareness and end violence in schools in the Philippines.

UNICEF awarded the Superhero Comic winning prize to 17-year old Rizka from Indonesia, for her rendition of a girl named Cipta who can turn her drawings into real-life objects and control them to stop school violence.