As a survivor-centered organization, we prioritize survivors’ perspectives and invite our clients to assume leadership roles at Eleison through our Survivor Leadership Council (SLC). The SLC is an advisory board of human trafficking and gender-based violence survivors who have graduated from at least one of Eleison’s programs.
Despite the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, our SLC members have remained committed to actively collaborating with Eleison staff in the planning and implementation of our programs and services. We acknowledge how they have been instrumental in sharing ideas about how to strengthen Eleison’s programs and supporting in facilitating activities for new clients and fellow survivors. This collective effort led to the following key milestones for the SLC in 2022:
- Shoe Drive: In collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the SLC planned, coordinated, and conducted a successful shoe drive as a community outreach activity. SLC members screened beneficiaries, packed, and distributed all donations to community members in need.
- Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT): SLC members provided feedback regarding the new HaRT program prior to its launch. The SLC joined a pilot of the HaRT orientation, gave input on the orientation content, and shared a testimonial for prospective clients.
- Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E): The SLC participated in a focus group discussion (FGD) about their experiences as SLC members and suggestions for improving the SLC. In other Eleison FGDs, they shared suggestions for expanding and strengthening Eleison’s services.
- Community Mental Health: SLC members joined Eleison’s community mental health education centered on managing emotions. SLC members shared their thoughts on the topic, and provided feedback on delivering the content for other survivors.
- 18-Day Campaign against Violence Against Women (VAW): SLC attended a campaign event where they learned about the current local VAW situation and gained insight on how to continue supporting the campaign alongside other organizations in Cebu, Philippines.
- Additional Activities: SLC members supported Eleison in numerous other ways, including sharing a testimonial to co-clients in Barug, participating in a partner organization’s research interview, and joining practice interviews for survey instrument validation, among others.
Aside from supporting the organization and their fellow survivors, SLC members expressed how important it was to them that Eleison believed in their leadership potential and how this fostered their personal growth:
I hope that my efforts are able to help other clients because Eleison has really helped me a lot. At Eleison, I’ve learned how to interact with others, how to handle conversations better, how to talk with confidence, and to develop my self-esteem.
If you are interested in helping us uplift the voices of survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence, we invite you to donate here.
