28/08/2025
𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬
At It’s Humanity Foundation, we believe that meaningful change begins with awareness. Last year, as part of our 𝐀𝐧𝐤𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧, we organized a series of sessions with parents at our Tongi Campus. The goal was simple but profound—to help families understand the importance of mental health and emotional care, not only for children but for parents themselves.
These sessions were more than just conversations; they became safe spaces for mothers to reflect on their own practices, discover new ways of nurturing their children, and challenge deep-rooted misconceptions. The experiences they shared with us are testaments to how awareness can bring positive shifts within families.
𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒊 𝑨𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒅, 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒑𝒖 (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 5), 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍—𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕, 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚. 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅. 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚. 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒓.”
𝑹𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝑩𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒎, 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒍 𝑲𝒉𝒂𝒏 (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 4), 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅:
“𝑨𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏—𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅. 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝑯𝑭 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.”
𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒉𝒂 𝑲𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒏, 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒂𝒇𝒊 𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒎 (𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 4), 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅:
“𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑬𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓, 𝑰 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒕, 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝑰 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔.”
These reflections mark a milestone for our journey with parents—showing how knowledge and awareness can shift family behaviors, strengthen communication, and create healthier environments for children to grow. By encouraging families to openly talk about mental health, we are breaking stigmas and inspiring practices that nurture both body and mind.
At IHF, one of our greatest satisfactions is knowing that we are able to give back a little to the community—helping families build resilience, strengthen bonds, and ensure that children feel safe, valued, and supported at home.