In the conflict-scarred communities of Mindanao, a group of young leaders from Sarangani is working to turn trauma into hope through Project Petal, a youth-led initiative that aims to create safe spaces for underserved communities by combining mental health awareness with peacebuilding efforts.
Project leader Brelyn Mae ‘Azzy’ Belmores said the pilot initiative, scheduled from Aug. 10 to 21, will bring together up to 50 youth volunteers from across Southeast Asia for workshops, community service, leadership mentoring and peacebuilding training. The program is being conducted in collaboration with RP Kapayapaan, with support from the Provincial Government of Sarangani.
‘As a community development worker, I’ve spent time in grassroots and vulnerable communities affected by conflict and post-conflict situations,’ Belmores told The STAR.
‘There is little to no mental health support available in these areas. Right now, the focus has largely been on helping communities reintegrate and rebuild, which often leaves mental health concerns unaddressed,’ Belmores added.
Project Petal is one of Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network’s official Summer projects for 2026, a non-profit youth network that advances service leadership across the region.
Many young people in Mindanao are juggling economic uncertainty, exposure to past or ongoing conflict, and increasing social and digital pressures that impact how they see themselves and their futures, Belmores said.
She also said that mental health services remain concentrated in urban centers, leaving rural youth with limited access to support, a gap the initiative hopes to bridge.
At a time when mental health is gaining wider attention online, access to affordable and accessible support services remains limited, especially in underserved communities where the issue often remains more of a buzzword than a reality.
‘Traditionally, support systems tend to be centralized and clinical. Our approach complements this by focusing on community-based and preventive models, where support is integrated into spaces where young people already engage,’ she said.
Belmores said Project Petal would train participants to facilitate dialogue in communities about how to watch for red flags when talking about mental health and how to properly encourage people to seek the help they need.
‘The workshops are intended to create safe spaces, spaces for dialogue, awareness and initial engagement,’ she said. The program will be more of psychosocial support than psychological first aid.
Overall, Belmores said the initiative is less about immediate, large?scale outcomes, but they view these workshops as a way to build trust, strengthen relationships and develop local leaders over time.
‘We wanted to focus on how participants and our community partners apply what they have learned, whether they initiate conversations in their communities, take on leadership roles, or continue engaging with others,’ she added.
Belmores was recently selected as one of 42 youth leaders in Asia’s Rising Circle (ARC) 2026, convened by the Singapore International Foundation.
ARC is a regional program for emerging changemakers across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China and India.