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On July 21, 2011, LoveYourself was officially formed as a response to the alarming spread of HIV in the Philippines. And in just four years it has grown into a volunteer-powered movement that spreads love and positivity as a counter-force to the epidemic. To date, LoveYourself has provided free HIV testing services and confidential counseling to thousands of clients through its two community centers , helping reclaim their confidence regardless of their status with an approach rooted in self-worth instead of fear. LoveYourself's efforts have been recognized as a shining success both locally, as a finalist in the 2014 Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations and through newspaper features, and internationally through recent visitations from the likes of the World Health Organization who want to find out what we are doing right. On this anniversary day, LoveYourself founder Vinn Pagtakhan has a special message specifically to its passionate volunteers, the "modern-day heroes"

LoveYourself's once-a-year learning and training convention dedicated to counselors returns this July 25. All counselors are invited to sign up for free and attend the 4th LoveYourself Counselors’ Convention to be held at Amelie Hotel, Bocobo St., Malate, Manila City. Register here for a guaranteed slot. The convention welcomes counselors from all LoveYourself batches. Spend a fun Saturday building your counseling know-how and forging stronger bonds with your fellow counselors. Refresh, Revive, Reach Out This year’s theme is “Counselors’ Convention 4 The Win: Refresh, Revive, Reach Out,” and aims to energize the ever-growing family of LoveYourself counselors. The convention will be a whole-day event from 8AM to 6PM. Counselors will get to interact with expert speakers, gain new knowledge, and discover insights to improve their counseling skills. Convention Schedule Below is the full day schedule, including sessions and expert speakers: 7:30 AM - Registration 8:30 AM - Opening Pr

by Jay Fernando (Note: The opinions expressed in this review do not necessarily reflect the views of LoveYourself.) “We must love one another or die.”   W.H. Auden hated that line and struck it out of the poem he wrote where the phrase The Normal Heart came from. But the line remained on various published versions of the poem and these words must have resonated with Larry Kramer, playwright of The Normal Heart when he wrote that powerful exchange between Ned Weeks and his brother Ben as Ned confronted him about his homophobia:      BEN: Agreeing that you were born just the same as I was born isn't gonna save your dying friends.      NED: That is exactly what is going to save my dying friends! This may be debated upon – that it is an incessant belief that homosexuality is a crime and a disease that is killing us off and not HIV – is only one among the various points made by the play, arguments that could not be resolved overnight .  It wasn't about the answers though, as about