The 2020 Safe Space Heroes and GYS Outstanding Alumni hosted the last episode of the “SAFE TALKS: Tales and Takes by the Youth” for the year 2020. It was aired last December 11, 4pm on Zoom and Facebook live. The topic for the third episode is “Looking Back to Move Forward: Our Hopes for 2021”.
Christmas and New Year is just around the corner and as part of the Filipino culture, it is normal to celebrate this holidays with family and friends gathered together. People also shop for gifts and decors and people would fill in the malls and streets. However, due to the pandemic, this will be different compared to the ‘normal’ things that Filipinos do on holiday season.
Many have happened this year that disturbed plans, livelihood, lifestyle, etc. of people who have experienced these events. Despite this, the hosts shared their most important milestones for this year.
For Adventurado, it was the creation of Happy Hearts Initiative and, them, becoming a winner for the GYS grant this year. He advised that the youth should keep trying until it yields good results. Never give up on things.
The most important milestone for Cote would be be establishing the Mayari Movement. He also said that it was a dream come true for him to speak in a UN75 webinar organized by GPF.
Speaking in front of people was one of the fears Fabito has before but this year, she was able to breakthrough with this and that’s why she considers this as an important milestone in her life. She was also able to set up a women and tech organization in Batangas which allowed her to dream something bigger than herself.
For Pineda, he recognized this year as a bounce back year for him and his team. Their team was able to establish community-based initiatives namely SakayQC and NCov Bot PH. He was also really glad to see the hearts of the youth in creating projects to help the community.
Mariano commended all the youth who have continuously strived to survive this year and adjusted to the situation. This year, he was able to receive the confirmation that he will be able to continue his BS nursing program and he considers it as a milestone for him aside from the recognition given by GPF and CF.
After sharing their milestones, they discussed the lessons they have learned this year. They were able to trust the process, accept change because it is inevitable, “I am stronger than what I think”, and embrace progress. They also shared what changed them and thanked the people who have been part of their 2020.
There will be another season of the Safe Talks webinar series to be released next year organized by the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation in partnership with Global Peace Foundation Philippines. This will be an annual webinar series under the Safe Spaces program.