WHO WE ARE

A collective of defenders and wellbeing weavers

Keri is a Filipino collective supporting the mental health and wellbeing of social justice defenders. Our name “Keri”, comes from the common phrase said by kapwa Filipinos – “keri lang”. Enduring, continuing, and rising from the sociopolitical violence which human rights defenders and communities face every day.

We were formed last July 3, 2020 to resist and stand against Republic Act 11479 or Philippine Anti-Terror Law, which has been weaponized and abused to suppress dissent and freedom of assembly. There is no ginhawa or wellbeing in environments controlled by terror, by political repression, oppression, and corruption.

We are thankful to our Kaibigan ng Keri (friends of Keri), kapwa politicized healers and mental health practitioners who we lean on, and to organizations and people in our community of care who mentor and support us, who teaches us through embodiment and action the many faces of radical & revolutionary love and courage.

Sadya

Practices that inform our journeys

Decolonizing Mental Health and Psychology

We are intent in fostering an anticolonial practice through learning and practicing Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology), liberatory psychologies from movements globally, centering indigenous knowledge and lived experiences. We recognize the mental health impacts of environments of sociopolitical violence and structural inequalities. Further, we are fighting against epistemic injustice where people's knowledges have been and continue to be erased or sidelined in favor of those from Western, Global North, or those from economically privileged contexts.

As much as we can, we inform our understanding of mental health, wellbeing, and psychology through immersions and deep listening with communities, from farmers to community scientists & scholars to persons with disabilities to activists who have dedicated decades in the struggle. We are still a long way but on the way.

Critical Human Rights-based Approach

We commit to embodying and nourishing critical human rights-based competencies and approaches to care and wellbeing as part of our internal trainings. We are also aware of the protection mechanisms and holistic security of social justice defenders, recognizing the risks and threats they face from hostile, emotionally-demanding environments and occupations.

Apart from this, we take time to understand about the social struggles that are important to the defenders we support. Allowing us to have a shared language of care and recognition of their context, life project, resistance, and soul-work. This includes issues on indigenous, land, and environmental rights, migrant rights, women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, labor rights, sexual health and reproductive rights, digital & data rights, and rights of persons with disabilities. We regularly attend and are indebted to the hard work of those who organize situationers, forums, and gatherings.

Trauma-informed Care

Trauma-informed for us means learning the different faces and ways trauma appears in oppressive environments, responding in a feminist survivor-centered way, and recognizing the importance of justice in one's recovery and healing. In fostering trauma-informed spaces, we practice LGBTQ+ affirmative care and train ourselves in skillsets that would allow us to respond meaningfully to the the different needs of defenders. We are able to respond to crises due to human rights violations, natural disasters, gender-based violence concerns, or political repression.

ginhawa para sa kapwa (Collective & Community Wellbeing)

We believe that the wellbeing of collectives, movements, and communities are also woven with each of us as Filipinos. It is necessary that we actively support in the healing of collective, transgenerational traumas, be involved in reparation and recovery efforts (such as land back for indigenous peoples), retrieve and archive historical collective memory, and demand for structural and systemic accountability and change. Through these, we envision a world that would be kinder to the bodies, spirits, and psyches of defenders. This looks like actively joining our kapwa in protests, mobilizations, organizing (in different forms), human rights documentation, petitions, and sign-on statements.

EXPRESSIVE ARTS

Recognizing the diversity of languages of human expression and meaning-making, we include art, artivism, and cultural resistance in our facilitations and psychosocial accompaniment. This includes movement, dance, music, visual and performance arts. We learn from and collaborate with artivists, cultural resistors, and memory archivists.

OUR STORY

Standing in solidarity with defenders

We stand with anger and shout #ActivistsNotTerrorists, #DefendtheDefenders, and #JunkAntiTerrorLaw. We also call to #SurfaceAllDesaparecidos, calling the administration to surface all activists that have been Disappeared.

OUR COMMITMENT

Tending to ecosystems of care that support the ginhawa or wellbeing of defenders

We aspire to support in creating caring environments that make defenders feel less alone, supported, healthy, and free. Our collective is only one of many others who are organizing and weaving safety, care, and joy for defenders.

We aim to grow connections with fellow care organizations, to foster an environment where any activist or defender anywhere in the Philippines would feel cared for. Please reach out to us at keriforactivists@gmail.com if you share the same dream.

Ito ang unang pagkakataon na may nakita akong organisasyon na naglalayong bigyang suporta ang "mental health" ng mga taong iniaalay ang sarili para sa bayan. Dahil dito, pasasalamat para sa adbokasiya at mga inisyatibo ng Keri dahil alam kong marami silang natutulungang mga aktibista.

Yel

isang guro at mental health advocate mula Rizal

Keri is a safe place that accommodate needs that rarely spoken in daily life but universally experienced. raw but deep. Ang Keri ay isang ligtas na espasyo na nag-accommodate ng pangangailangan na di natin naisasaboses sa pangaraw-araw ngunit malawak na dinadanas. Bulnerable ngunit malalim.

Nathalia

a writer

“Keri has supported us with making our work on feminist approaches to collective care more intersectional and rooted in indigenous knowledge systems. The way Keri holds space and collaborates is truly transformative.”

Leila

We Are Feminist Leaders

“Keri: isang buhay na larawan na ang lagi't laging pagbibigay ng ubos-lakas na pagmamahal para sa masa ay hindi madali pero keri (kaya). Nagbibigay pagmamahal para sa mga bagay na kaibig-ibig. Salamat sa mga matang kita ang halaga ng mga bagay na sinisira at pilit iwinawala ng mga pasista, at pagtindig para sa mga bagay na ito.”

Kay

Defender of minority rights from Ilocos Region

“I attended almost every mental health workshop organized by KERI and every one of them was very beneficial. I hope I can attend more, especially ones that provides solidarity space across geographies. Thank you KERI!”

Yara

Egyptian feminist, Human Rights Resilience Project

“Malaki ang naitutulong ng mga online materials ng KERI para tulungan ang mga myembro ng newsroom namin na makabuo ng isang ligtas na espasyo at maayos na handling (collective care) para sa isa't isa, lalong-lalo na't kagyat naming isinusulat ang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao. Lahat ng ito ay lubhang nakatulong sa amin at lubos kaming nagpapasalamat.”

Dominic

Community manager at Bulatlat

“Nakakainspire ang work ni Keri para sa mental health professionals at nagsisimula sa field development work. Marami silang initiatives na nagfafacilitate ng collective and self care. From workshops to anthologies, salamat sa mga regalo ninyo sa community.”

Sari

Feminist and development worker

“Keri has been a steady source of strength and support in my journey as a defender. Through their mental health and psychosocial services, I felt truly seen, heard, and empowered to continue the work with renewed hope."

Rose

Teacher and guidance counselor from Camarines Sur

“Your support sessions were a lifeline for me. I finally felt heard and understood. You helped me see that my anger wasn’t just valid, but a sign of my deep care for justice. Thank you for standing with me in both my struggles and my strength.”

Hydee

Sister of a desaparecido, Surface Dexter and Bazoo

“We are grateful to Keri for providing our staff and our partner with psychosocial services free of charge. Their immediate support is invaluable to those working in the human rights and development work fields, as well as their families. This kind of service helps ease our burdens and allows us to continue our work.”

Gail

Former Human Rights Officer, Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples Rights

VOLUNTEER

Join us in weaving care

Are you also committed towards caring for kapwa activists and defenders? Passionate about the interconnections of mental health and social justice?

Give Care

We welcome mental health providers, such as psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors, psychiatrists, and psychological first aiders to join us.

Facilitate

We welcome those who enjoy and love designing and facilitating care and community spaces, such as mental health or wellbeing workshops. Those who enjoy creating experiences that would make other people and organizations feel good, feel healthier, and feel more skilled at facing repression and oppression.

Express

We welcome psychoeducators, artists, and/or cultural resistors who believe that mental health and social justice are interconnected, and would like to support us in crafting art and resources that resonate with people.

Volunteer with Keri

Kindly fill up this form to help us get to know you more. All information here are confidential, and will be routinely deleted for security.

Feel free to answer what you can and only what you’re okay with sharing!

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We believe in intersectionality, in which you might have different advocacies.
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