GUIDING HEROES

There is a hero in each of us – an echo from our core that chooses daily to live and grow. As much as we pursue to tread our own path to self discovery, sometimes we find ourselves dealing with the chaos inside us.  In these times, we long for someone to embrace us, someone to whisper us with words of encouragement when the spirit wears out.

Sometimes we need to hop on the wagon and let someone steer the wheel for us- someone to guide us, to direct us, and to bring us to a community that encourages and believes.

This is where Agubayani comes in.

Agubayani is a team of mental health advocates from the Global Shapers Iloilo hub. Global Shapers Iloilo hub is an organization initiated by the World Economic Forum where a group of professional and passionate young Ilonggo leaders create sustainable projects in their local city.

Agubayani derived its name from the ilonggo term Agubay which means “to support or guide” combined with the Filipino term bayani which means “hero”. Agubayani is the brainchild behind Nurture Notes, a mental health workbook set to be printed and published before this year ends.

Nurture notes is a wellness planner that uses positive psychology as its guiding principle. Based on Martin Seligman’s PERMA wellbeing model, the handy notebook will featurepages on five aspects: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment.

Cultivating Positive Emotions, the workbook will contain write-ups and activities for self care and self development. As it is curated and designed for the millenials, there will also be QR codes for the recipient to scan and participate on.

As the team envisions a community that supports wellness, the Engagement part of the workbook will display a set of photos of heritage sites to encourage users to walk around and appreciate the rich historic culture of Iloilo. Agubayani will also be partnering with homegrown businesses to provide readers with discount coupons for them to support local products as well as enjoy these with the company of their loved ones.

The group also aims to foster Relationships within the community through gentle reminders of Filipino family values of love, care, and respect. A bucket list of activities that you can enjoy with your barkada will also be included.

Centered on self discovery, the team hopes this planner to be a helpful tool for the youth to find Meaning in their lives. With the founder of Project KaleidosCOPE on board, several breathing techniques that could aid introspection are to be expected. There are also pages where one can reflect and journal on their ambitions, interests, and priorities in life.

Agubayani wraps up the workbook by ending it with journaling pages for one’s accomplishments. This part will feature comparison on the fixed vs. growth mindset and encourages recipients to form healthy habits by tracking their progress.

The workbook Nurture Notes will have a corresponding Nurture Manual where Agubayani will be conducting and spearheading monthly PERMA modules created as enrichment activities for the content of the planner notebook.

In partnership with Daily Guardian, modules will include journaling activities where worthy write-ups may get a chance to be published and featured on Western Visayas’ most respected newspaper.

This passion project by the Agubayani is supported by the Department of Health Region VI. The core team members include Rosa Lea Baldeverona, Welmar Benedicto, Dy Fallacorina, Kristin Leigh Pareja, Angelica Quitasol, and Mitz Serofia. The members, to note, have led and supported a lot of mental health initiatives through the years. Dr. Serofia was the man behind Project KaleidosCOPE, a project teaching the youth some coping skills and strategies. Pareja also led the Rebuilding Hope Project that was held on mental health week last year. The team has also conducted round table discussions and meetings with other mental health groups in Iloilo.

As Margaret Wheatley puts it, “there is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about. “

We care about mental health. We are Agubayani.

For partnerships and collaboration, you may reach and contact us through our email: agubayani@gmail.com, facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/agubayani/), or through our marketing and project leads respectively, Dy Fallacorina, MEd, RGC (+639277436305) and Angelica Quitasol (+639176555524).