As the year draws to a close, many of us are reflecting on what we carry with us, what we need to let go of, and what we should pass on.
Pamana: Rewriting the Story We Pass On is our year-end fundraising campaign rooted in hope: hope that cycles can be broken, stories can be rewritten, and futures can look different from the past. Through this campaign, we’ve been sharing stories that inspire and empower women and families to create change. One of these stories is deeply personal – Sophia’s.
Like many Filipinos, Sophia grew up in a conservative environment where sex was never talked about, and even naming body parts felt shameful or bastos. When she entered puberty, she carried deep shame about her changing body. She grew up believing her body was something to hide—something that could tempt or “corrupt” men. For a long time, she resented it. And she knew her story was not hers alone. Many young girls grow up feeling the same fear and confusion.
Today, Sophia works for Roots of Health as our Partnerships Coordinator, helping deliver comprehensive reproductive health education to young people in and beyond Palawan. By bravely sharing her own story, she helps young people learn the truth about their bodies without fear or shame, so they can make informed, confident decisions about their futures.
Read Sophia’s full story here.
As part of the Pamana campaign, we also shared a series of comic strips and art cards that explored the cycles we hoped to break: unhealthy relationships, trust issues, and unspoken childhood trauma. Told with humor and honesty, these relatable stories opened conversations, encouraged reflection, and invited us to imagine healthier paths forward.
We asked our online community what kind of future they hope to pass on, and their answers were deeply moving. Again and again, people spoke of dignity, kindness, understanding, and care. Some dreams were simple, others transformative–but all were rooted in hope.
Read post here
If these stories resonated with you, we invite you to be part of what comes next.
Pamana is about choosing what we pass on. With your support, we can continue creating spaces where young people grow up informed, respected, and empowered—free from shame and full of possibility.
This Christmas, your gift helps ensure that the next generation inherits not silence or fear, but knowledge, agency, and hope.
