Lingap Sining

Theater for Development;Healing through the Arts

The PETA Lingap Sining Program is a Creative Campaign that aims to promote the culture of safety and resilience in Philippine communities. It harnesses PETA’s Integrated Theater Arts (ITA) Approach and Creative Pedagogy for one’s healing, recovery and reintegration to the community.

The program began life in 2009 as a volunteer initiative within the PETA Children’s Theater Program (PETA-CTP). It was initially aimed towards processing trauma among children and community survivors of typhoons and other calamities, but eventually developed towards other advocacies as well.

From 2014 to 2018, the program provided humanitarian assistance in response to Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 through the “Lingap Sining Project: A Creative Campaign towards Developing Safe Schools and Resilient Communities”. PETA conducted arts-based psycho-social support workshops for the survivors, to address the need for comprehensive programs on disaster risk reduction and management on both local and national level. As a result, Lingap Sining developed into a full-blown program on Resiliency Education focused in Leyte.

The thrusts of the program were to provide:

  • (1) Creative Psychosocial Processing and Support
  • (2) Capacity Building on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction Education for Schools and Barangays
  • (3) Community Awareness and Advocacy through Community Performances and Local Action Initiatives,
  • (4) Networking and Partnership Building with schools and local government units – at-risk barangays, municipalities and cities.

The program also worked with the Development and Peace and Urban Poor Associates in the social preparation and leadership training for the Pope Francis Village, an in-city resettlement community for those living in the danger zones in Tacloban City.

Since then, the PETA Lingap Sining Program has continuously worked with various communities in advocating for: youth and citizen participation and leadership, suicide prevention, mental health and well-being, human rights and community resiliency.

Arts and theater are effective approaches in processing experiences of disaster and humanitarian emergencies. It helps bolster self-awareness, community participation, understanding and management of disaster-related issues. Real-life concepts and values are being imagined, re-imagined and practiced. This process develops one’s skills in communication, critical thinking, planning, management, problem solving, and conflict transformation.

To date, the program is currently implementing two major creative campaigns:

1) Bagong Bilang is a Creative Campaign to engage the youth on voters’ empowerment and provide a community practice on engaging the youth vote. It also aims to build capacities among young leaders, creative advocates and digital content creators in developing performances and online content, facilitating forum and social advocacy plans using the digital platform towards youth voters empowerment and transformative action.

2) Health Love CHECK: Community Health Education Cascade Kit is a kit which includes a 3-part Health Love Video Series tackling Health as a Human Right, Mental Health and Breaking Barriers of Stigma and Discrimination thru Compassionate Care.

DOWNLOAD HEALTH LOVE CASCADE KIT HERE: https://bit.ly/cascadekitform

Should you wish to know more about the kit, you may send us a message through our socials and email address below. Host a workshop! Partner with us and let's bring communities together!

3) Lusog Isip: Harnessing Creative Capacities towards Mental Health and Community Well-Being. PETA Lingap Sining works with various community organizations and schools in integrating creative strategies in capacity development of educators and community frontline workers in providing basic skills in processing trauma experiences and psychological first aid for community and family support.

SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES:
EMAIL ADDRESS:
  • peta.lingapsining@gmail.com
ADDRESS MESSAGE TO:
  • Gail Billones
  • Program Director
  • PETA Lingap Sining Program

THE PETA LINGAP SINING WORK: From Disaster Response to Disaster Risk Reduction

Community Psychosocial Support Workshops for Survivors of Typhoons Ondoy, Peping and Santi. These are a series of psychosocial support processing workshops for children and youth, parents and teachers using creative and arts-based approaches. For some areas, participants of the workshops also had the chance to showcase their performances. Capacity building for community leaders on disaster response and community psychosocial support. The program has reached 10 barangays in NCR and Luzon affected by typhoons and flooding for an extended period. It also integrated direct services for affected communities such as medical mission, educational relief and orientation on children’s rights and child protection, feeding for children. This is the first project initiative towards humanitarian assistance dubbed as Lingap Sining: Nurturing Hearts through the Arts, in partnership with Philippines Against Child Trafficking and Medical Action Group. Supported by Terre des Hommes Netherlands. (2009-2010)

Integrating Creative and Arts-based Strategies to Disaster Response Work. Capacity Building Workshop for volunteers of disaster response work for children and families affected by Typhoon Sendong in Iligan, Mindanao. PETA also did sampling creative processing workshops and psychological first aid for children and adults evacuation camps. (2012)

Community Psychosocial Support for Survivors of 2012 Habagat (Luzon Southwest Monsoon) Floods. Series of psychosocial support processing workshops for children and youth, parents and teachers using creative approaches. Capacity building for community leaders on disaster response and community psychosocial support. The program has reached 8 areas in NCR and Luzon affected by typhoons and flooding for two weeks to 1 month. It also integrated direct services for affected communities such as medical mission, educational relief and orientation on children’s rights and child protection. (In partnership with Philippines Against Child Trafficking and Medical Action Group. Supported by Terre des Hommes Netherlands. 2012-2013.)

Lingap Sining: A Creative Campaign towards Developing Safe Schools and Resilient Communities. 2014-2018.

Implemented a humanitarian assistance response to Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 through Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) Education. PETA conducted arts-based psycho-social support workshops for the survivors, recognizing that the unfortunate outcomes of Haiyan are consequences, in part, of the limited or absence of knowledge and programs pertaining to disaster risk reduction and management at the national and local levels. As a result, Lingap Sining was then developed as a full-blown program on Resiliency Education focused in Leyte. The thrusts of the program were to provide (1) Creative Psychosocial Processing and Support, (2) Capacity Building on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction Education for Schools and Barangays; (3) Community Awareness and Advocacy through Community Performances and Local Action Initiatives, and (4) Networking and Partnership Building with schools and local government units – at-risk barangays, municipalities and cities. PETA also worked with the Development and Peace and Urban Poor Associates in the social preparation and leadership training for the Pope Francis Village, an in-city resettlement community for those living in the danger zones in Tacloban City. Supported by Terre des Hommes Germany and Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

Rehearsing Democracy and Resiliency: Human Rights Education and Advocacy using the Arts. 2019-2020. This program is primarily anchored on addressing community psychosocial support for families affected by the War on Drugs (WOD)/ Extra Judicial Killings (EJK). Lingap Sining worked with communities under the Diocese of Kalookan (covering the cities of Malabon, Caloocan and Navotas), human rights NGOs, mental health professionals and parish and community-based groups in Metro Manila. Lingap Sining provides training, psychosocial processing and arts-based activities for advocacy – focusing on young people’s education on human rights and youth participation.

PETA’s arts and culture-based approach to community education and advocacy is very important at this time. The expressive, experiential and participatory qualities of PETA’s workshops is necessary as a platform to discuss not just the learnings but also in processing and reflecting the psychosocial impacts of traumatic experiences. Art becomes a modality of intervention where it processes feelings, interactions and relationships, capacities and meanings, so as to make sense of these human and community experiences and be able to determine and plan courses of action. It becomes a holistic approach to education and advocacy. This process also allows the person to be creative in expressing their voices and discovering his/ her potentials and contribution towards being agents of “change” in their own lives and communities, towards seeking justice and/or transforming current conditions and situations.

Healing through the Arts. Community Mental Health and Psychosocial Support using PETA’s Integrated Theater Arts Approach and Creative Pedagogy

Suicide First Aid and Suicide Prevention

  • 1. Suicide First Aid Advocacy Workshops using Theater Forum. With Foundation AWIT. 2009-2014.
  • 2. Suicide First Aid Advocacy Workshops using Theater Forum. With Foundation AWIT and APMC-Students Network for the Semi-Colon Project. 2018-2020.
  • 3. Video Project on Suicide First Aid and using Theater Forum. With Foundation AWIT and Mental Health in Multicultural Australia (MHiMA). 2013-2014.
  • 4. Suicide First Aid Facilitators Training for Medical Students. With Foundation AWIT and APMC-Students Network for the Semi-Colon Project. 2019.

Disaster Response & Rebuilding Communities

  • Creative Interventions in Healing Work. Experiencing PETA’s Integrated Theater Arts Approach. In Partnership with Balik Kalipay Center. 2013.
  • Psychosocial Support Workshops for Children Affected by Typhoon Yolanda in Quinapondan Samar. Medical Mission led by Health Futures Foundation Inc. 2013.
  • Creative Psychosocial Processing Workshops for LGU Stakeholders as part of UNICEF Evidence-based planning and budgeting for resilient health systems. As support facilitator for Balik Kalipay Center for Psychosocial Response. 2015.
  • Mental Health Literacy Program for Beneficiaries of the Pope Francis Village. 2017.
  • Family Psychoeducation Program for Family Beneficiaries of the Pope Francis Village. 2017.

Stop Bullying Campaign in Public High Schools

PETA Stop Bullying Campaign. Youth Empowerment Workshop-Performance to educate public high school students using a site-specific performance entitled “Nasaan si Jonibeth?”. It brings into the fore the role of the bystander in perpetuating or taking action against the systemic psychosocial impact of bullying to the bully, the bullied and more importantly to the community of bystanders. 2014.

Communities affected by Conflict-Induced Forced Displacement

  • Integrating MHPSS in Dialogue Promotion for Communities Constantly Affected and At-Risk of Conflict Induced Forced Displacement. With the German International Cooperation in the areas of Surigao Del Sur and Surigao Del Norte. 2018.
  • MHPSS Capacity Building for Communities Constantly Affected and At-Risk of Conflict Induced Forced Displacement. PETA Lingap Sining and Balik Kalipay Center. 2018-2019.

War on Drugs and Extra Judicial Killings

Grief and Trauma Processing for EJK Widows and Families. With Medical Action Group, Baigani and Center for Popular Empowerment. 2018-2019.

MHPSS Integration within the Whole School Framework; Networking with DEPED

Teachers Training on School-Based MHPSS using Creative Strategies. With San Bartolome High School in Quezon City and DEPED Albay working with Sto. Domingo National High School, Daraga National High School and Marcial O. Ranola Memorial School. 2020-2021.

MHPSS Integration within the Health Care for All Agenda; Networking with the Pasig City LGU.

Creative Psychosocial Processing Workshop for Gender and Development, Task Force Team of the Pasig City LGU. 2021.

Integrating the Value of the Arts, Creative and Culture-based Approaches/ Strategies to the work of the Mental Health Professionals

  • Creative Pedagogy Workshop for Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA). 2019.
  • PETA Lingap Sining as Provider of Professional Patients (actors as patients) for Manila Central University – Dept. of Psychiatry

Partnerships:

  • Artists and Cultural Workers
  • Child-Rights Based Organizations
  • Human Rights and Civil Society Organizations
  • Health and Mental Health Professionals and Community Workers
  • Dept. of Education National and select Regional, City, Provincial Division Offices Schools and Universities
  • Catholic Church Dioceses, Parishes, youth Groups and Social Communications Network Youth-led Organizations
  • Local Government Units – Province, Cities, Towns, Barangays
  • Mental Health Practitioners and Groups