Triumph of SELF

“I wish SELF were already around in the ‘70s when my brother was still alive,” a colleague, who lost a brother to drug addiction at a young age, sighed sadly at the Bulong Pulungan press forum at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza last Tuesday where drug rehabilitation was the topic.

SELF, which stands for Self Enhancement for Life Foundation Inc., presented its Therapeutic Community approach in the rehabilitation of drug addicts and individuals with behavioral disorders during the forum.

The SELF’s Therapeutic Community (TC) approach is reportedly the only one of its kind in the Philippines, providing a comprehensive behavior shaping and value formation program complemented with clinical therapy. This promotes physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth.

Its founder, Martin Infante, 61, started experimenting with marijuana when he was only 13 before “graduating” into the hard stuff. In 1991, he went into rehab. He founded SELF the year after.

Since then, he proclaims that he has been “high on sobriety.”

Infante believes that knowing and conquering oneself is the greatest victory of all. I know of a former drug addict who went into rehab when he looked into the mirror one day and screamed because he thought he was seeing an intruder in his room. It was only when he calmed down that he realized that the man in the mirror was himself — and that he didn’t recognize the man.

Infante, together with Leah Tumbado, the program director; and a SELF graduate, gave insights during the press forum into the TC program, which endeavors to help and heal not only the afflicted individuals but their families as well.

“What we emphasize  in the program are accountability and responsibility.  The issues that have caused certain   individuals to take drugs or alcohol, gamble or display destructive behavior have to be rooted out with the help of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and a full-time medical staff. There is no place for physical violence in the treatment,” says Infante. “Relapses happen in certain cases but then it is part of the process. We just have to work harder and not give up.”

He added that a person who has been into drugs for a long period of time — five to 10 years — cannot be cured by attending a short two-week program. Not even four months are enough, said Infante. And crucial to the healing of the individual is the support of the family.

SELF discourages “pull-outs” from the rehab center so as not to disrupt the treatment of the resident who might not yet be ready to face the outside world.

Self Enhancement for Life Foundation (SELF) founder Martin Infante.

At present, the youngest resident in the facility is a 15-year-old boy while the oldest is a 54-year-old man. Male residents outnumber the females.

SELF has an interesting history, which curiously reflects the struggles of its residents. SELF was founded in 1992, and its first facility in Las Piñas was given a notice of eviction (apparently, the neighbors didn’t want a drug rehabilitation center in their midst). Then the facility burned down.

Infante had to scrounge around for money for relocation. A new site was found in Tagaytay, but much was needed to rehabilitate the place. Finally, a site was found in Talisay, Batangas and seed money was provided by Infante’s good friend who believed in his advocacy.

Initially, they had to trek through a muddy road to reach the facility, which was up on a hill but has a panoramic view of Taal Lake. Through hard work and much dedication, Infante and his colleagues have rehabilitated the place into a sanctuary for people who need help in battling substance addiction.

“My life is a series of miracles! When I surrendered everything to the Lord, everything fell into place,” Infante reveals.

According to SELF records, from 1993 to 2014, 85 percent of those who completed the SELF program have successfully reintegrated into society; those who graduated and went back to work were put into trustworthy positions and those who went back to school achieved academic excellence.

As a way of giving back, SELF has been training personnel  of  the Department of Health to run rehabilitation programs using the Therapeutic Community approach.

(For more information about SELF, call 809-3491 or 0928-5525656.)

Siblings Aisa and Raphael Mijeno.

PAL flies Pinay inventor to US for tilt

What are we if not for the wind beneath our wings? And where will we be if not for the wings that fly us to our dreams?

Philippine Airlines recently became the wings to the dream of young inventor Aisa Mijeno and her brother Raphael, who successfully represented the country and the whole of Asia in the recent Global Grand Challenge Awards held in California.

The event is a venue for talented group of scientists, technologists, designers and other passionate change agents with the potentials to tackle the Global Grand Challenge and present innovative solutions that impact billions of lives. The Grand Global Challenges’ perspectives include assurance that basic needs are met for all people, quality of life is sustained and continuously improving, and mitigating future risks.

Aisa is the inventor of the SALt lamp, an LED light powered by salt water, a cheap and convenient source of energy for indigent communities in the coastal areas. Together with her brother Raphael, Aisa founded the Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALt), a social movement that aims to provide alternative lighting solutions. Aisa was commended by US President Barack Obama during the APEC CEO Summit in Manila last year.

The two were chosen by Silicon Valley’s Singularity University from a number of applicants worldwide to participate in the Energy Track of the Global Grand Challenge Awards. Aside from presenting their social enterprise, they were also selected to participate in the Sci-Fi Design Intelligence Workshop in the Singularity University Labs in NASA Ames Research Center where they had an opportunity to explore the NASA grounds with select participants from different parts of the world for future synergy and collaboration.

“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Philippine Airlines for supporting us to represent the country to participate in the Global Grand Challenge Awards. (The Philippines was the only Asian country at SU Global Summit.) This opened so many doors for us,” Aisa says.

Now on its 75th year and in line with its vision to become a source of pride of the Philippines, PAL launched its flagship corporate social responsibility program, “Represent Pinoy,” to support exceptional individuals chosen to represent the country in global competitions.

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)