COMMUNITY | Human Rights group invites advocates to a wellness session

Creative group DAKILA and its human rights center Active Vista invite advocates to a mental well-being fair amid the worsening state of human rights crisis both in the Philippines and abroad through Gusto Ko Nang Bumitaw… Wellness Huddle on November 17, Friday, 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, Quezon City.

The dynamic and activity-packed wellness session is organized under COMMUNE, a program that aims to strengthen the human rights community by providing a safe and collaborative environment anchored on social behavioral change-making. By providing a safe place for discourse, skills and knowledge-sharing, community-building, and peer support through collaborative networking sessions, the wellness huddle seeks to alleviate the mental toll of advocacy and human rights work.

“Our huddle aims to encourage COMMUNE members to shift their perspective on mental wellness from avoidance to acceptance and advocacy, leading to a positive change in behavior. By actively engaging in mental well-being practices, we intend to build resilience among our members both at the individual and organizational levels. We hope that HR groups will lead the institutionalizing and practicing of measures that will help their members handle the mental and emotional demands of human rights work more effectively,” said Nini Oñate, DAKILA managing director and COMMUNE program director

“With the killings of activists and journalists in the Philippines, we acknowledge that being constantly on the frontline of calling for justice can be mentally triggering. That’s why we also want to promote radical self-care where we proactively and intentionally nurture our well-being, from the simplest activities that ground us, to being with the company of a community, to seeking professional help,” Floyd Scott Tiogangco, COMMUNE director said.

The COMMUNE Wellness Huddle includes a variety of booths and activities, including arts and crafts, yoga and meditation, music therapy, silent reading corner, reiki wellness, psychometry, kokology, spiritual conversations, Zumba, tattoo session, and coffee-making 101. Games with prizes will also be held throughout the activity-packed day.

COMMUNE invites its members, human rights advocates, their colleagues, friends, family members, and pets to huddle and take a necessary breather. Those who want to join may register through this LINK.

The COMMUNE Wellness Huddle is in partnership with Bantayog ng mga Bayani, Medical Action Group (MAG), The Asia Foundation (TAF), Partido Manggagawa (PM), Ina ng Bayan, Reiki Wellness, Better with Music, and Meditation PH; and supported by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and Quezon City local government unit.

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