My one-year journey mentoring with Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute’s Grassroots Peacebuilding Mentoring Program has been a positive, reflective, and creative journey for me as I have been able to listen to myself and others more deeply and intently and to connect with people around me with enthusiasm and empathy. Me and my mentee, Aki, had a chance to be in the program for one year to create and implement a mentor-mentee plan and also to identify aspects that we want to learn more on. As a mentor, I learned to articulate and express clearly and precisely my ideas and thoughts through writing, arts, and connecting with others.

Over the months, I learned to take care of myself more deeply. I saw myself as someone who is determined to set goals while being realistic about it. I felt how important it is to be grounded with my reality, what my capabilities are, and what kind of environment I am working in. Creating a plan with my mentee was a light and enjoyable feeling because of how well we know each other – we remind each other of our strengths and limitations, and this helped me a lot to be realistic and at the same time, reserve space for changes. I see my goals as a direction I am working towards, and not something where rigidity happens. I acknowledged the importance of spending time with myself, with my thoughts and feelings through journaling and stopping. It all begins with self-care – taking care of myself is essential in order for me to take care of others. It helped me a lot that planning the year was not just about the peace work we will be doing with mentees and the organization, but also planning how we take care of ourselves – physically, spiritually, socially, and mentally.

Second, I learned that friendship, in any situation, is a beautiful and important foundation of relationships. I appreciated the friendship I was able to strengthen, particularly with my mentee and my community. With Aki, because we have known each other for many years, and have been working together, I experienced a different and new side of our friendship. I feel that we became more supportive and sensitive to one another, and working with each other became easier. The friendship with my co-mentors gave me strength and encouragement over the months. They have been a great source of inspiration to me and I am grateful to be learning alongside them. Friendship with the people of my community has evolved through the years of practicing peace together. Parents, teachers, children, and other adults have shown me the joy of listening genuinely, of creating a safe space for everyone to be their true self, and of thinking, feeling, and hoping for a more peaceful community where we all belong.

Finally, my journey reminded me of the beauty of being creative, individually and collectively. Being in a community gives me courage and hope that the creative ways that we are able to learn and practice help us create something important together. Creating something together in the community gives me encouragement to continue our work together for each other. I learned to be more creative in organizing community activities, in gathering adults and children, in expressing myself, and in building connections within and outside my community. I am grateful for the experience of connecting with myself and with others, and for the experience of living the essence of peace – it is inclusive, nurturing, and transforming.

Community Journaling Workshop facilitated with Aki in Mayâ Learning Space on March 20, 2026