A short narrative of success achieved through the pilot initiative, “Peace of Mind: Supporting Youth Leaders and Faith-based Actors in Providing Youth-oriented Psychosocial Support in Times of the Pandemic.”
by Mae Quesada-Medina, Executive Director, BKC
Mindanao, the second biggest island of the Philippines, is home to three major groups, the Christians, the Muslims, and the Indigenous Peoples, aspiring for peace and unity amid their diverse religions and cultures. For many decades, generations of youth in this region have experienced impacts resulting from different forms of violence and humanitarian crisis.
On top of the volatile situation in this part of the country, the unprecedented health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened living conditions, particularly among the youth.
Community quarantines. Distance learning. Loss of a loved one. Isolation from close family members and friends. Stress, fear, and anxiety. More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the lives of young people have changed as they still face a lot of uncertainties regarding their health, education, economic survival, and adolescent dreams. In a crucial stage of their growth and development, if the youth suffer in silence, they may become more vulnerable and at-risk.
But there are ways to deal with these challenges. There is a community helping to build a common ground for the tri-people to work towards peace, stability, and development. It has evolved from years of combined efforts through interfaith dialogues with the Catholic Archdiocese, Protestant Bishops, and the Bishop-Ulama of Mindanao. Seeing youth participation opportunities in peacebuilding, they recognize the importance of faith-based groups in guiding and supporting the young people during these difficult times.
A key factor is building the capacities of youth leaders and faith-based actors to tap into an essential human resource – mental health.
Forging partnerships for peace
The project “Youth for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence in Mindanao” implemented by GIZ and commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) developed a concept to pilot the initiative Peace of Mind: Youth Leaders and Faith- based Actors in Providing Youth-oriented Psychosocial Support in Times of the Pandemic. In cooperation with Balik-Kalipay Center for Psychosocial Response (BKC) and the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA)-Lingap Sining as well as in partnership with the Bishop Ulama Conference and Duyog Marawi, this pilot initiative took place between August and November 2021. This initiative sought to promote, protect, and strengthen the mental health and wellbeing of the youth in their communities by harnessing their creativity, faith sensitivity, and shared value for peace in times of COVID-19.
A component of the initiative is a Training of Trainers for the Implementation of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS). Twenty-nine participants (selected youth leaders, teachers, Islamic educators, volunteers for peace, tribal leaders and councilors, pastors, ministers, priests, deacon, and church staff) from 14 religious organizations participated in the training.
The training employed online synchronous and asynchronous learning for twelve weeks. Although many participants faced challenges regarding internet connectivity, this did not hinder them from sustaining their interest in learning and having lively conversations with others using online platforms.
Creating a safe space
“Feel the warmth of our hearts…the joy and gratitude and passion for the work that we do … love and compassion for others. Pause and imagine reaching out to others and spreading the warmth and positive emotions. Quietly, say your intention for everyone.” – Training Facilitator
Each training session opened with an interfaith prayer, acknowledging the divine presence in each one. On the first day, after a centering activity, they introduced themselves, starting with names, how they felt at the moment, where they came from, their occupation, workshop expectations, and contributions. This set the climate for learning while establishing respect, gratitude, and openness.
Participants shared what they knew about mental health. Some still perceived mental health as merely the absence of mental disorders. Others considered stress as an illness itself. A simple message was made clear: “There is no health without mental health.”
Facilitators and participants created a safe space that was accepting, caring, and sensitive to different faiths. This space allowed people of various religious beliefs and backgrounds to share each other’s stories, find commonalities, and empathize with each other. For instance, a common stressor during the pandemic was the loss of jobs in the family, the difficulty of online learning with limited guidance from teachers, and the proliferation of toxic messages in social media. ,These stressors led many to stress eating, sleeplessness, and unhealthy relationships. The act of telling one’s story to a community that listened without judgment had in itself a powerful positive effect.
The art-based experiential learning approach
PETA facilitators devised structured learning activities using visual arts, spoken poetry, songs, videos, role-play, small group discussions, and journal-writing to enable participants to recall, reflect on, and share experiences affecting their mental health during the pandemic.
For example, they had an exercise using a paper cutout of a human body. Participants drew lines, shapes, and symbols representing their feelings, thoughts, and experiences of distress and coping during the pandemic. In small groups, they shared their drawings and listened to the stories of others. In the process, they found comfort in being listened to by others with respect and acceptance.
By going through the process, participants learned the interrelated concepts and tools of mental health and psychosocial support, adolescence, human-ecological systems, creative arts in advocacy and education, among others. These concepts became more concrete and relevant to the learners – first, in understanding themselves, and second, in facilitating psychosocial support to other youth.
The creative approach applied in the training of trainers also helped draw out the participants’ hidden talents and creative potentials while sharing personal truths of grief, brokenness, and helplessness. The acts of imagining, crafting, and creating through the arts allowed the participants to be in touch with their inner landscape by giving it form and expression outwardly. In the process, they felt less helpless, more empowered, gaining confidence in their abilities to overcome their difficulties.
BKC resource persons provided conceptual tools to reframe negative experiences, derive new insights, and regain trust in themselves and others. The Bilog ng Buhay or Circles of Life model helped participants to reflect on their experiences and assess where they were in terms of the four components: 1) loob (feelings and thoughts); 2) kapwa (relationship with others and the environment); 3) kakayahan (source of empowerment and disempowerment); and 4) kabuluhan (meaning of experience). Through this conceptual tool, participants became more aware of psychosocial issues and sources of healing. In the end, participants felt hopeful, inspired, less isolated, and more connected with others.
The Bilog ng Buhay session was followed by a discussion on the Foundations of MHPSS. Afterwards, a participant shared his realization:
“There are so many problems that we encounter in life. We usually think that there is no hope. We do not know that the solution is within ourselves, in our family, and the community…We just need to dig deeper in assessing our problems … and finding solutions… We just need to maximize the resources from our self, from our family, as well as from the community.” – Sahabudin B. Giduwan, Training Participant
Learning by working together
After the seven sessions of orientation and training, participants set out to apply what they learned. Four teams designed a pilot psychosocial activity for the youth in their respective organizations and areas.
The Redemptorist Youth Ministry, Bishops-Ulama Conference Mindanaw Tripartite Youth Core, Iligan Diocese Youth Commission, and the Davao Archdiocesan Youth Council Apostolate jointly organized a three-hour session on mental health literacy on depression for young people. This session was done through a hybrid method, with facilitators from Davao and Lanao del Sur who delivered the sessions online while facilitators from Iligan joined 15 participants in a face-to-face set-up. It provided a space for participants to express their emotional stress during the pandemic and undergo psychosocial processing using the Bilog ng Buhay model. They learned about the symptoms, risk and protective factors of depression, including when and how to seek psychosocial support.
The team from DepEd Luyungan in Malaybalay, Bukidnon conducted a whole day online workshop for 13 senior high school indigenous people (IP) students. They identified the stressors and coping mechanisms of the IP youth through a group mandala with cultural symbols representing their individual experiences. Based on this, the participants chose a story that they collectively developed into a short performance about caring for self, others, community, culture, and faith.
The team from Marawi, Zamboanga, Cotobato, and Maguindanao organized an online activity for 15 youth affected by conflict. They focused on mental health literacy using the Coat of Arms to visually express their stories of stress and coping strategies. Participants of the Training of Trainers delivered lectures on the importance of mental health, the impacts of stress, and stress management.
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) implemented two on-ground sessions on mental health literacy that were integrated in an ongoing church program. The facilitators guided 10 participants to reflect on their experiences using the Bilog ng Buhay, clay making, and journaling.
In each group, youth leaders and religious mentors teamed up to do the groundwork and actual facilitation of a workshop, which was either virtual, face-to-face, or hybrid.
Being a pilot activity, it was not smooth and easy as youth leaders grappled with their new role as workshop facilitators and organizers. They learned to work as a team while finding ways to respond to the challenges and constraints of training during the pandemic. They learned to use their resources, take on responsibilities, and communicate with each other.
With the content delivery, material, and logistical support of the religious leaders and the host organizations, the groups succeeded in bringing together new youth participants to share and reflect on their experiences and issues faced during the pandemic.
Integral to the training design was the role of BKC and PETA in guiding and coaching the teams throughout the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the pilot training. This handholding is key to learning about mental health and psychosocial support. Youth leaders and religious actors needed to accompany each other in creating safe spaces and caring for others.
“Although I have been in the youth ministry for a number of years, I’m always inspired and motivated to journey with them especially because the creative MHPSS allowed me also to realize other ways and possibilities of journeying with them through self-discovery, assessing one’s issues or stressors, and being in company towards achieving healing, peace of mind, mental wellbeing through fun-filled activities.” – Father Jomil C. Baring, Cssr
“As a religious actor from the UCCP, this helped and guided me to attend to the needs of the community, the congregation and especially the youth… to always be available to help and support through understanding the situation, especially through listening…” – Manixx
Moving forward
“It brought young people together regardless of faith and culture to learn together and understand mental health, recognize stressors and threats (especially in the context of Mindanao, e.g., war and terrorism, killings) and address those through the use of MHPSS.” — Father Jomil C. Baring
The experience of the workshop has shown that in addressing the mental health of the youth in a specific setting, their social and cultural contexts are essential. The layers of conflict in Mindanao have been worsened by the public health crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. And this has significant effects on the wellbeing of the youth in the region.
This shared journey provided an opportunity for participants to create and enjoy a safe space where respect, acceptance, faith sensitivity, and trust proved essential to a sense of wellbeing and community. It also demonstrated the power of the arts to help the youth discover, express, and empower themselves in a group setting.
The series of activities building from a simple word release game to more complex scene improvisations demonstrated how participants were able to express their intimate emotions and thoughts related to issues such as suicide among the youth. Instead of plainly discussing the issue, participants acted out the youth’s lived experience of depression, creating various scenarios and dialogues of how one could handle such a sensitive situation. Drama then not only mirrored the reality but also offered possibilities for changing the narratives to achieve peace of mind.
Doanie Grace Sulda, a teacher from DepEd Luyungan in Malaybalay, Bukidnon shared her final thoughts on the creative MHPSS:
“Mas nadagdagan ang aking kaalaman sa pag-address ng mga pinagdadaanan ng mga kabataan. Mas lumawak ang aking pag-unawa sa mga pinagdadaanan ng mga kabataan…Ngayon mas nauunawaan ko na sila… Alam ko na kung paano tugunan at tulungan ang mga kabataang may piangdadaanang mental health issue…kung paano pasukin ang kanilang mundo na hindi sila pinipilit na magbukas ng kanilang damdamin…at sa malikhaing pamamaraan.” (“I now have a broader knowledge and understanding of what the youth are going through. I know now how to help them address their mental health concerns…how to enter their world without forcing them to open up… and by using creative means.”)
Enabling young people to help and serve others like themselves gave them a sense of fulfillment and confidence. Through this approach, the same experiences of respect, acceptance, and trust would pave the way to achieving peace.
There is a need to continue cultivating the common ground and nurturing the seeds of inner and outer peace through individual and collective efforts with the youth and the rest of the community.
Amid conflict and crisis, finding peace of mind is both an end and a beginning.