Every play session that we have held, we have taught participants how to process and think about their experience of play. This way, they can apply what they have learned in their respective homes, organizations, and schools.
My continuous search for growth pushed me to discover Play for Peace in June of 2013. It was then that I attended a play session with Trainer Anbern Rodis in Cebu, Phillippines. At that time, I was the Sannguniang Kabataan Chairman ( Youth Council Chairman) of our Barangay chapter. I was intrigued when Anbern introduced us what Play for Peace advocates for: its mission, vision, and core values. I asked Anbern how to become a member, and she invited me to visit the website. After applying to the mentorship program, I was invited for an interview and in-depth discussion about the organization and how it brings peace through the spirit of play. I was then registered as an official mentor! Our organization, Circle of Young and Empowered Linut-od Leaders (CYELL), which I founded in December 2011, was the first organization registered as an official Club. In CYELL, we conduct regular sessions with youth and use the Play for Peace spirit to build friendships with our neighboring Barangay.
We play to laugh, to learn, to reach out, and to grow. We introduced Play for Peace strategies when we encountered the youth of our Parish Youth Coordinating Council. This helped us to build camaraderie and unity, working together as one Parish Youth. When we held our “Pasko sa Linut-od, 2013” (Christmas in Linut-od: Linut-od was the name of our cluster under our Municipality of Argao), we conducted activities that catered to children and mothers: we fed them with home-made foods and our own, pocket-bought foods, purchased by the peace players. We played, laughed, and shared our talents with them.
We learned many things during that time, including how to communicate with kids, manage projects and, above all, how to use the spirit of play to celebrate victory.
In May 2014, we reached out to kids taking Religion lessons in what we call the “Flores de Mayo”. The English translation of this is “Flowers of May”. We got to play with the kids after their class. We introduced play found in the Play for Peace booklet and the familiar play activities that we peace players knew about. The kids, for example, learned to share their feelings of losing and winning. Every play session that we have held, we have taught participants how to process and think about their experience of play. This way, they can apply what they have learned in their respective homes, organizations, and schools.
Play for Peace helps me bring services to the youth in my community: in teaching laughter, happiness, and a strong sense of responsibility, participants learn how to be better citizens. As a youth empowerment advocate, I envision that, through the spirit of play and the guiding mission of Play for Peace, I can mold and empower a new generation of leaders to fight the battle of positive nation-building.
