Around 20 Barangays of the City attended the two-day Stress Management and Spiritual Upliftment Seminar for single parents at the Brgy. Hall in Brgy. Calanan, today, December 6, 2021.
The event aims to identify the things which are causing stress in their lives; to assist them in acquiring basic skills for managing stress; to increase camaraderie and improve relationships with co-participants; to identify the goals of debriefing; to identify various approaches to debriefing; to understand each participant’s spiritual and emotional maturity; to formulate questions that assist participants in self-reflection; and to improve the daily functions of solo-parents.
The City Local Government of Tabuk regularly reaches out to solo parents through the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) in various programs such as this. According to CSWDO focal person Aida Bermillo, their office is not only for financial “ayuda,” but they also conduct “ayuda for the soul” to relieve solo parents from stress and provide some takeaways they can apply at home.
Encouragement to appraise situations such as when to say no and when to avoid people who create stress is one of the stress management tactics listed. They also recommended that single parents practice the culture of sharing one’s feelings rather than bottle up their concerns.
A single parent offered some advice based on personal experience. Vices such as alcohol and shopping for useless items, she noted, are not the answer to stress. They’re only two of the many financial-related causes of stress. “Ammu tayo met nga financial difficulty la unay iti pakaistressan tayo nu dadduma aglalo ta awan ti katulungan tayo ngem uray nu kasta, sapay kuma ta positive latta ti panunot tayo. Adun ti solo parents nga nakitkitak nga nakapagraduar iti annak da gapu iti kinadisiplina ti sarili.
The CSWDO was instrumental in launching numerous CLGU activities, according to City Mayor Darwin Estraero, especially because their good office reaches out to people directly. He was also grateful for the parents’ attendance at the seminar, and he set an example for them because he has been a single parent for many years. “We must not consider our children as source of stress but as a source of motivation and inspiration to be strong and steadfast as we work steadily to be able to provide for them. We must guide them and set the example for them to emulate.” By Rio Dongcayan Bassong
