Safe Self, Safe Community, Safe Mission: Safeguarding Workshop for the Cartwheel Team
Safeguarding is a way of life that speaks to all levels of human interaction: this is a truth that Cartwheel embraces and hopes to be intentional in living out.
To deepen understanding and appreciation of safeguarding – including related issues and implications in practice – Cartwheel team members underwent a series of online learning sessions on the topic between December 2021-January 2022. Resource persons were Dr. Carmen “Titay” B. La Viña and Coleen Rae Ramirez-Panahon of the Catholic Safeguarding Institute, who also fulfill roles as among Cartwheel’s current Board of Trustees. This initiative was made possible with support from development partner, Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation*.
Day 1: Understanding safeguarding of vulnerable persons
“Safeguarding is a culture-making mission towards safe environments.”
On December 10, 2021 the session began with participants first reflecting on what a child means for each of them. They expressed their thoughts and insights through art, re-emphasizing recognition for the dignity in every child.
Children were then presented as among those whom society considers vulnerable, along with the elderly, persons with disabilities, and various other marginalized groups. It was then highlighted that grasping the contexts of said vulnerable persons, as well as upholding each of their rights, is an important step in contributing to the effort of safeguarding them.
Dr. Carmen La Vina of the Catholic Safeguarding Institute discusses the relational safety model to help deepen participants’ understanding of safeguarding as a mission
This is especially relevant for an institution such as Cartwheel to recognize as it looks into the many protective factors it has put in place, examining those that need to be reinforced for all its stakeholders and partners. In line with this is the awareness of how cultures at work and in larger communities contribute to how safe environments are established.
The session ended with participants acknowledging that the safeguarding mission requires safety on all levels of human relationships: safe self, safe community, safe ministry.
Day 2: Recognizing manifestations of sexual abuse
“Knowing the importance of how to help gets us out of that sense of powerlessness in the face of the crime that is sexual abuse.”
On December 14, 2021, several videos were shared to supplement the discussion on sexual abuse as a painful reality in need of responding. Resource persons emphasized how one’s culture affects one’s mentality, and how several cultural elements either encourage or disinhibit people from speaking up and taking action even in the face of abuse.
Among other relevant discussion points shared were the indicators and signs of sexual abuse, as well as concrete steps an individual or organization can take when someone they know experiences such. To end, resource persons highlighted the importance in understanding that addressing the issue of sexual abuse needs team effort where there ideally is an individual, institutional, as well as a societal response.
Cartwheel Team participants hold up their artworks, expressing their own sexual identity and maturity in connection to the work of maintaining safe environments for others
Day 3: Creating safe environments for the self and others
“We want people to experience trust and safety [in their environments]. Do they feel safe – among themselves and within themselves?”
On January 27, 2022, participants were first invited to small group discussions on existing preventive factors and risk factors while considering specific contexts of Cartwheel’s partners and stakeholders. As insights were shared, the team established that safeguarding should indeed be part of the intentional mission of the organization.
Resource persons pointed out that said preventive factors are ideally reflected in an institution’s guidelines and protocols. They shed light also on the connection between the institutional need to maintain safe environments and most everything else around and even within us.
The session ended with an activity where each participant reflected on one’s own sexual identity and sexual maturity, understanding how these are much related to one’s emotional maturity as well. It was affirmed that only by first grasping what it means to live out a safe self can one effectively work towards creating and maintaining safe environments for others.
Day 4: Boundary-setting and living out a safe community
“The way we deal with other people will influence the way we build community.”
On Jan 28, 2022, the session focused on understanding how boundaries fulfill functions in regulating parameters for the self and for others, as well as setting up limits to protect what is most important to us. There was recognition that these boundaries first may be established by the self but are in need of being nurtured by a community.
The characteristics of a safe community were then discussed, identifying the values and core beliefs it holds as influencing responses to specific events that concern its members.
As a final point, it was reiterated that safeguarding is a way of life. Its essence is in creating relational safety among all community members, especially for the most vulnerable among us.
Lyn dela Cruz, bookkeeper of Cartwheel who was among the workshop participants, summarized for the team their insights on their learning experience on safeguarding:
“Hindi lang ito para sa sarili, pero para sa iba. Huwag nang magbulag-bulagan o magbingi-bingihan. Kailangang maging sensitive at aware sa mga bagay para maging tulay para makatulong.”
(“This is not just for the self but for others. We ought not to be blind or deaf. We need to be sensitive and aware of things around us to be a bridge to be of real help to others.”)
Cartwheel Team’s collective output (as shown on Mentimeter) when asked about invitations or convictions that came to them as a result of the workshop
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*Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation a private, U.S.-based foundation that works for the prevention and treatment of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children, women, and their families in the Philippines and in Hawai’i. Our foundation is named after our Founder, the late Consuelo Zobel Alger, whose generosity and genuine love for children allowed us to renew hope for those who have lost it and give hope to those who never had it.
For over 30 years, Consuelo Foundation has been taking action for our children and their families—uplifting one child, one family, one community, at a time.
Consuelo Foundation’s Life Skills Plus program empowers children and youth through education and skills training so they, too, can lead, dream, and reach their full potential—and make a difference in our world. This program provides the learners with relevant learning materials to ensure sustained access to quality education. Children and youth are assisted with essential interventions to further build their knowledge, skills, and competencies to be empowered individuals.
For inquiries and info about Consuelo Foundation and this project, you may email: ask@consuelo.org or visit their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.