PH Embassy in Paris Organizes Juana Be-Well Art Workshop in celebration of National Women’s Month

 Philippine Embassy in Paris officers and staff shows their artworks after the Juana BE-Well Workshop. (Paris PE photo)

PARIS 22 March 2022 – The Philippine Embassy in Paris organized the Juana BE-Well, a basic painting workshop and GAD-responsive wellness programme for the Embassy employees, as part of its activities for the 2022 National Women’s Month Celebration (NWMC) on 19 March 2022.

Philippine Ambassador to France Junever M. Mahilum-West, in her remarks, recognized how “the demands of Foreign Service work can negatively impact our holistic well-being, especially our physical and mental health, especially in this time of the pandemic.” Juana BE-Well provided wellness intervention to the Embassy employees, who are mostly women, by delving into their artistic side.

The Embassy invited Marie Expert, a Paris-based Filipina painter, as a resource speaker who shared her expertise on painting. Ms. Expert explores two-dimensional work by remaking classical painting such as the renaissance period and landscapes and tackles feminism by painting the existential beauty of the woman’s figure. Besides having a gallery in Paris, she also teaches painting to expatriate women and children who want to learn how to paint.

“BE well” is a wellness program program of the Embassy for its employees which was launched in 2020 with its pilot session “Be Well Groomed and Stylish”. BE is actually an abbreviation of the French word “bien-être” or wellness. When read as “Be Well”, it expresses the general desire of the Embassy’s management and personnel for employees to be in a positive state of well-being. For more information, visit the Embassy’s website and Facebook page. END

Philippine Ambassador to France Junever M. Mahilum-West (middle) and Deputy Chief of Mission Aileen Mendiola-Rau presents token of appreciation to Ms. Marie Expert (left). (Paris PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.parispe.dfa.gov.ph, http://www.facebook.com/PHinFrance, https://twitter.com/PHinFrance or https://www.instagram.com/phinfrance/.