PHILIPPINE EMBASSY PROMOTES MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH FOR NATIONAL WOMEN’S MONTH

Rabat, 14 March – On this year’s “National Women’s Month”, the Philippine Embassy in Rabat focused on the promotion of both mental and physical health among members of the Filipino Community and Embassy personnel.

An afternoon talk on “Mental Health is Wealth” was conducted on Saturday, 11 March by Ms. Jo Enrica “Jean” Enriquez, accredited Gender and Development (GAD) Resource Person of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW). In her 45-minute presentation, Ms. Enriquez pointed out that “mental health is a state of biological, social and psychological wellness in realizing one’s full potential, coping with the pressures of life, working productively, having positive relationships and making good choices.” In summing up her presentation, Ms. Enriquez said that mental health is “self care” of one’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual being.

A lively exchange followed during which participants identified their personal “take aways” from Ms. Enriquez’s talk: love oneself, when to say “no”, doing away with bad habits (eg, drinking alcohol, excessive use of cellphones included), and other useful tips on practices that would nourish one’s mental health as overseas Filipinos working in Morocco, and being away from families and friends.

The Embassy’s Gender and Development (GAD) section pampered all participants, women and men alike with “thank you” tokens of sweets and special gifts for three (3) lucky ones.

On the other hand, in promoting good physical health among its personnel, the Embassy organized last 7 March a one and half hours of basic yoga class led by certified yoga instructor, Ms. Kawthar Bennani. As pointed out by Ms. Kawthar, simple body stretches, brief meditation and breathing exercises help reduce stress and increases one’s strength and endurance. END

(all photos by Rabat PE)