This article is written and edited by Raphael Canalita.

Last November 28 and 29, spearheaded by the Zuellig Family Foundation, the Department of Education in Naga City, LGU-Naga through the City Population and Nutrition Office, with assistance from the Naga City People’s Council, organized the Adolescents’ Health Day — a whole-day event geared towards teaching teens the importance of learning and understanding more about sexual and reproductive health, and how it can affect their lives.

The theme of the event was “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds: Nurturing Adolescents.” The theme serves as a reminder of the critical role that healthcare, education, and awareness play in the lives of our adolescents while also creating a supportive environment for them that shall normalize discussions and address their reproductive health concerns, educate them about self-care, raise awareness about boundaries and consent, and advocate for their needs.

The first day introduced a poster-making contest held at the JMR Museum Café. The next day, the opening program was held at the JMR Amphitheater, graced with the special presence from Hon. Gilda Gayle Abonal-Gomez, the councilor of City of Naga, Hon. Jefson Felix, the Sangguniang Kabataan President, and Ms. Francis Gladys Belmin-Abad, the Executive Director of NCPC who gave her opening remarks.

Then, the participants split for their respective workshops — the elementary students for a storytelling session, role-playing and dance workshop at the JMR Ampitheater, while the high school students had a seminar and panel discussion on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health.

The event ended with a culminating activity at the Naga City Hall Grounds, where the winners of the poster-making and infographics-making contest were announced with the presentation of the kids’ learnings from the dance workshop. Honorable guests from DepEd, Zuellig Family Foundation and CPNO were present and thanked the guests for coming.

Raphael Canalita is a volunteer of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines Foundation, Inc. Batch 44 assigned to the Naga City People’s Council for his year of service. After graduating BS Psychology in the Ateneo de Manila University, he was deployed to organize the farmers, youth and children of Naga City, and is the artist behind the current branding of NCPC.