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By: Kris Tangco The HIV crisis has gone on for four decades, and for four decades the world has struggled against it. Doctors, scientists, educators, policy makers, writers, artists -- people of all walks and all colors have, in their own ways, sought to make sense of this crisis and its relationship with society. From citizens to states, from medicine to prayer, from cures to cries for reform, people’s visions of how to respond to the crisis are as diverse as the people who bear its scars. The goal of this series is to give you a glimpse of these visions: the roles people of different passions and disciplines have played in this crisis that, as of March 2016 as recorded by the Department of Health’s Epidemiology Bureau, is infecting 25 Filipinos daily. From left to right: Tokwa Peñaflorida, Henri Palma, and Kay Aranzanso It was a muggy April evening as I sat down at a coffee shop in Capitol Commons with Henri Palma, Kay Aranzanso, and Tokwa Peñaflorida. Lamps lay low over the counter

LoveYourself introduces an innovation with its new service called Couple’s HIV Counseling and Testing (CHCT), otherwise lightheartedly coined as LoveYourself Purple, designed for couples who wish to undergo HIV counseling and testing together. This service aims to provide intervention for couples so that they may plan for their future and discuss a realistic risk reduction plan that they can implement together. An important note to be mindful of with LoveYourself’s CHCT program is the nuance of the word “couple” which implies that at least two individuals who wish to avail the program are in a pre-sexual or sexual relationship. The Learning and Development arm of LoveYourself, Love University, together with one of its founding members, Chris Lagman, coordinated the training program for LoveYourself volunteers who will be counselors for this service. This service was developed with the backdrop of rising incidence of HIV infections among males who have sex with males (MSM), many of thes

By Gello Ganon One drop has caused the ripple of altruism. One vision has shed light on the lost.  One voice has resonated through the hearts of many. Vinn Pagtakhan, the namesake of Vinn Advocacy, which would later be known as Love Yourself, started with a vision to provide a home, where, once visited, one can only leave with either a happy heart or at least, a hopeful one. It is a place where judgement is dusted off in the doormat before entering and hope is served for snacks. In just half a decade, shoulders were tapped to take on the mission to be a voice of the silent and to be the guide for the lost. They’re to be called the LoveYourself volunteers, modern-day superheroes (or super heroines for that matter) who work in the shadows. As Love Yourself turns 5, a simple celebration was held at Ramada Hotel in Binondo, Manila on the eve of July 2, 2016. Volunteers and friends of LoveYourself gathered and kicked off the night with the Circle of Love, an event commemorating good deeds,

Last June 11, LoveYourself once again welcomed a new set of volunteers, collectively known as Batch Magayon. This new set of volunteers corresponds to LoveYourself’s second wave of recruited volunteers for 2016. The batch name “magayon” comes from the Bicolano word “beautiful”. LoveYourself hopes that this batch of volunteers will allow beauty to radiate from within themselves and touch the lives of people they will encounter in the organization’s advocacy of HIV awareness and self-worth. Batch Magayon volunteers will receive training to become counselors in LoveYourself’s two HIV testing clinics - the LoveYourself Uni in Pasay and LoveYourself Anglo in Mandaluyong . Batch Magayon volunteers will also have the opportunity to move further with the option of undertaking life coaching training as part of LoveYourself’s latest program, the NEX+ CHAP+ER program, a life coaching service for PLHIV’s (People Living With HIV). Behind the Logo The sinarapan is used as an icon for Batch Magayon.

LoveYourself counselor and single dad Monching has had his fair share of ups and downs, but his unwavering spirit and constant inspirations in life have gotten him through hell and high water time and time again. By Jean Natividad We were already at the final stretch of our hour-long interview, but Monching couldn't help but shed tears. It was a rainy evening in June, and we were seated outside the bustling Pineapple Lab in Makati City, guests taking long drags from their cigarettes nearby. The mood inside was celebratory. It was LoveYourself's Pride Night 2016 event, and hundreds of LGBT members and allies gathered to celebrate love, acceptance, and freedom. Outside, it was rather sentimental as Monching revealed his touching narrative. It was an emotional hour that didn't seem enough to hear about the story of Monching, a young professional, a LoveYourself volunteer, a gay single father, and a relentless fighter. It was during this hour that he took this writer for a roll