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Since its beginnings as a citizens’ coalition until today, Balik Kalipay Center for Psychosocial Response, Inc., has been continuously initiating and engaging in programs, projects, and collaborations that promote and empower mental health and psychosocial support.

2020-2022

Peace of Mind: Supporting religious and faith-based actors in providing youth- oriented psychosocial support in times of the pandemic

In June 2021, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) began an exploratory meeting with BKC on a potential short-term project under their Youth for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence in Mindanao (YOUCAP) that could help the youth navigate the psychosocial impacts of the pandemic. In August, BKC was contracted by GIZ to be the project holder of the conceptualized project. BKC once again collaborated with PETA-Lingap Sining and together, developed and delivered a capacity development program which sought to build on the knowledge and skills of youth leaders and faith-based actors from the CARAGA region as implementers of mental health and psychosocial support in fostering peace and protecting the mental health and well-being of the youth in their communities. From August up to November, 2021, 6 synchronous training sessions and 2 coaching sessions were conducted. Four groups evolved from these activities and each group conducted their own pilot psychosocial support activity for selected youth in their communities. By the end of the capacity development program, there were 30 graduates who successfully completed the course. A trainer’s manual was also produced, authored by BKC and published by GIZ.

Partnership with TOWNS: Values Development Program

BKC entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service (TOWNS) as a partner-implementer of its Values Development Program (VDP), an action- oriented training program for transformative leadership for the youth aged 18 to 25 that seeks to develop a cadre of young leaders who will uphold the values of honesty, consideration of others, and love of country and God.

MHPSS orientation for Taal volunteers and first responders

After 42 years of being silent, the Taal Volcano in Batangas erupted again in January 2020, affecting thousands of families around the area. There had been a massive donation drive and various groups flocked to the evacuation centers to distribute relief goods. There had been calls for systematic provision of psychosocial support interventions, especially for children. To contribute in sensitizing and building the capacity of volunteers and workers providing or were planning to engage in psychosocial support activities in the evacuation centers in Batangas, BKC organized a series of one-day Orientation on MHPSS in partnership with Philippine Educational Theatre Association, ASA Philippines Foundation, UPLB’s Department of Human and Family Development Studies and Lipa LGU. Over the course of 3 days, a total of 390 individuals participated in the activities.

Lusog-Isip Talks during the CoVid19 pandemic

Within a month after both national and local governments imposed lockdown as a measure to limit the spread of COVID-19 virus, BKC began planning for ways to help alleviate the stress and anxiety brought by the lockdown and surging cases. What resulted was a series of 6 2-hour webinars delivered online, co-organized with PETA, YSCOLA Inc. and UPLB-DHFDS. The first two of the series were exclusively offered to the partners’ network. It was kicked off by a talk given by our President Dr. June Lopez herself, who explained the pandemic using a trauma perspective and provided tips on coping. Professor Nephtaly Joel Botor tackled ways to strengthen family resilience amidst crisis and adversity. Both webinars were attended by at least 80 participants from the partner networks of BKC, YSCOLA, PETA and UPLB-DHFDS.

Webinar Series #3 to 6 titled I Survived COVID-19, Malasakit sa May Sakit, When Duty Calls and Youth Speaks were offered to the public and streamed online via Facebook. By the end of each talk, those participating live online were given the change to ask questions through Facebook chatbox. Ms. Mae Medina moderated the series of talks, which were made available online until June 17, 2020. Overall, the conversations on topics that were well curated by all the selected esteemed speakers reached thousands of viewers. The series of talks were offered free of charge.

MHPSS orientation and cultural sensitization on Filipino ways of coping in family dynamics

In June 2020, Kanlungan Filipino Consortium (Kanlungan), a London-based charity organization for migrants, refugees, and diaspora communities from the Philippines and Southeast Asia, approached BKC to provide a series of orientation, training and mentoring on mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for its volunteer counselors who would later conduct psychosocial activities for the Filipino migrant members (documented and undocumented). Kanlungan’s profile of clients includes several undocumented Filipino migrants who were affected by the quarantine (e.g. loss of income, victim of domestic abuse, inability to send money to family in the Philippines, depression due to social isolation, death of a loved one, etc.) This put a heavy burden on the Kanlungan volunteer counselors who were dealing with their own difficulties during the heavy lockdown and surge of cases in the UK.

To assist Kanlungan in their need, BKC developed and delivered a 5-session training program that helped the group of 12 volunteer counselors process their own COVID experience and level off on their knowledge on MHPSS. Other topics discussed include the nature of trauma and the stages of trauma recovery; the use of Bilog ng Buhay and Kaginhawahan frameworks for assessment and psychosocial processing, and the elements of family resilience in times of crisis.

Lusog-Isip: Turo at Tugong Malikhain

The uncertainty brought by the pandemic has made many young people feel disempowered and insecure. Anecdotes from parents, teachers and the youth themselves describe this sector as vulnerable to mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. It is with this rationale that the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) through the Lingap Sining Program, funded by their long time partner Miserior, initiated and implemented a capacity development program on Integrating Creative Strategies for School-Based MHPSS.

Entitled Lusog Isip: Turo at Tugong Malikhain, the training program was implemented to help educators plan and deliver their own school-based MHPSS for both their school staff and students. BKC supported this project in the aspect of curriculum development, training and coaching. The first batch of 3-day online training workshop transpired in December of 2020 with a total of 42 teachers and staff of San Bartolome High School in Quezon City. The second batch was conducted on January 2021, and was attended by 40 teachers and staff from three schools from Albay. Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, the training sessions which lasted 3.5 hours each were delivered online using the Zoom Teleconferencing application. Asynchronous activities were facilitated using the Google Classroom.

The expected outcomes from participating in the training program include: (1) participants’ integration of well-planned MHPSS activity in their classes using innovate, creative strategies learned from the training, an example of which is through the daily lesson log or through the class modules, (2) planning and development of school-based MHPSS guided by the MHPSS principles, and (3) review and strengthening of their own referral systems, particularly for identified mental health cases, by way of community resource mapping (CRM) of MHPSS services available for the kinds of mental health and psychosocial needs identified.

2015-2019

The 11th Hour: A National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation and Mental Health

To date, the 11th Hour Conference held on March 22-23, 2017 at the Henry Sy Sr. Hall of De La Salle University serves as one of the biggest accomplishments of BKC-CNetPSR thus far, which was made possible through the partnership of several organizations, primarily the Department of Health, De La Salle University, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde and the Philippine Women University – Institute of Family Life & Children Studies, Inc.

The two-day conference which included both plenary and breakout sessions on key topics on climate change adaptation and mental health brought together people from different sectors and disciplines, with the aim of effectively mainstreaming MHPSS in the continuing dialogues on climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) and ultimately arriving at a consensus exemplifying the importance of MHPSS in CCA and DRRM alongside other services.

Overall, the event was a great success with over 200 attendees ranging from policy makers, government, NGOs and civil society, international agencies and organizations, scientists, academic and technical institutions, media, private sector, and MHPSS practitioners and other key players in the field.

Evidence-Based Resilient Local Health Systems (rEBaP)

BKC-CNetPSR served as a technical partner that provided the psychosocial support for the participants in this project funded and initiated by UNICEF. Primarily, the conduct of rEBaP was done through a series of capacity building interventions targeted towards municipal health workers and LGU planners. In its implementation stage, BKC-CNetPSR met and corresponded to implementing partners and government stakeholders towards achieving the project objective of producing Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Rehabilitation Plan (HEPRRPP) for the selected 50 LGUs in Regions 6, 7, and 8. BKC-CNetPSR’s engagement covered six months, from January to July 2015.

2010-2014

Development and Delivery of a Special Training Model to Support First Responders to Cope with Psychological Aftereffects of Humanitarian Emergencies

This project funded by WHO allowed BKC-CNetPSR to undertake a review of current materials, guidelines, and protocol, as well as current practices of key organizations for responders in humanitarian emergencies, design a local protocol for providing psychosocial interventions for responders and finally conduct the designed psychosocial intervention to San Jose volunteers in Tacloban City (September – December, 2014).

Dayaw 2014: Reformatted as a healing and recovery program

BKC-CNetPSR has also been part of the DAYAW event of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). As a technical partner, BKC- CNetPSR participated in strategic planning and provided appropriate method for the implementation of DAYAW which has been reformatted as a healing and recovery program for the communities affected by manmade and natural disasters. More particularly, the BKC team provided an orientation workshop on Psychosocial Support and Processing using Integrated Arts for Yolanda first responders and survivors. The activities, with a 3-day program and conducted in selected communities of Regions 6, 7, and 8, covered an eight- month period, from December 2013 to July 2014. All the activities were in partnership with Leyte Samar Heritage Society and the LGU as the host of the event.

Intensive Training on Creative Therapies

The 4-day intensive training organized by BKC-CNetPSR provided MHPSS orientation and capacity building in the use of integrated arts in humanitarian emergencies. The activity was attended by 30 volunteers and responders from Cebu, Bohol and other private organizations who greatly benefited from the well-prepared talks and presentations by the resource speakers. (April 28 – May 1, 2014, Tagaytay City)

Enhancing Resilience of Children in Disasters

BKC-CNetPSR co-organized the conduct of the Child Protection in Disasters Workshop for 70 participants composed of NCCA artist responders and other local facilitators from government and non- government agencies. The workshop was a collaboration among BKC- CNetPSR, the Child Protection Network (CPN), Philippine Ambulatory Pediatric Association (PAMPA), and the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). (January 16-18, 2014, Metro Manila)

Araw ng Paghilom at Pagbangon: Isang Pahingalay

As a year opener in 2014, the BKC-CNetPSR spearheaded a national activity “Araw ng Paghilom at Pagbangon: Isang Pahingalay,” which had simultaneous rituals held in Manila, Tacloban, Cebu, Bohol, Davao and Zamboanga cities. The day of prayer, healing and recovery was jointly organized with Museo Pambata together with other partner organizations Sanghabi and Brahma Kumaris. The said activity signified the beginning of rehabilitation period from the devastation brought by the four elements: Fire (Zamboanga siege), Earth (Bohol and Cebu earthquake), Wind and Water (Supertyphoon Yolanda in the Visayas). An estimate of 1,000 participants is recorded for all sites.

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