PH Brussels Holds Music and Color Workshops for Self-Expression and Empowerment

Participants in the Color and Music Workshops conducted by Brussels PE on 26 November 2022. (Brussels PE photo)

BRUSSELS 06 December 2022 — In line with the observance of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women, the Philippine Embassy in Brussels, in cooperation with the Women Helping Women Network - Belgium (WHW Network - Belgium), successfully conducted the Music and Color Workshops on 26 November 2022 at the Filipino Chaplaincy Hall in Forest, Brussels.

Philippine Charge d' Affaires, a.i. to Belgium Consul General Pablito A. Mendoza welcomed 30 Filipinos and Belgian participants, most of whom were women coming from different areas in Belgium. He assured them of the Embassy's support in promoting the welfare and well-being of Filipinos in Belgium as well as in Luxembourg, and called on them to become advocates of women empowerment and gender equality. Vice Consul Filonila Alcaraz-Arguelles, as the new head of the Embassy's Consular Section, also extended her greetings and assurances of support to the participants.

The color workshop conducted by WHW Network volunteer, Ms. Anna Beth Santilla, gave the participants the opportunity to share their life experiences and inspire each other with expressions of empathy and support. While the music workshop facilitated by Ms. Mylene Factora-Marcotty, another WHW volunteer, empowered the participants to sang their hearts out to the tune of "I Will Survive."

Ms. Liza Jane Estalilla, Gender and Development Focal Point Officer of the Embassy, also briefed the participants about the functions of the WHW Network - Belgium, a group of Belgian and Filipino volunteers that serves as the Embassy's partner in reaching out to the community especially to Filipinos suffering from domestic violence and other forms of crisis. Now in its third year of existence, the WHW Network-Belgium continues to gain more volunteers of empowered women and men from both Belgian and Filipino communities.

Also present during the activity was Ms. Claire Lansenebre, one of the 31 finalists in the Miss Belgium Beauty Pageant 2023. Born of a Filipina mother, she also pledged to be a champion of women's rights. END

For more information, visit  https://www.brusselspe.dfa.gov.ph,  https://www.facebook.com/PHinBelgium/ or https://www.instagram.com/phinbelgium/.