Every cloud has a silver lining |29 August 2019
The workshop participants, organisers and facilitators in a souvenir photograph to mark the occasion
Much as a vehicle relies on several parts working together as a whole, there are numerous dimensions of wellness, eight in fact, that contribute to our health: physical; environmental; financial; psychological/emotional; social; spiritual; occupational and intellectual.
Experts say it is important to focus on each dimension individually as well as be aware of how each plays a role in our overall health.
In order to teach the youth about the eight dimensions, a workshop was organised yesterday at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (Site) entitled ‘Silver Lining Programme’.
This initiative was brought by the UN Youth Seychelles with partnership from the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) and The Guy Morel Institute and is being facilitated by Wellington Manjengwa.
“This project looks at life from the eight dimensions and looks at where each component fits into your life,” said Annarose Clarisse, founder of UN Youth Seychelles.
She added that the eight dimensions work together to balance out a person, noting that the project is targeting the youths to make sure that they consider these aspects and look at the wider picture when making decisions.
One of the dimensions that the students will be learning about is emotional wellness. Ms Clarrise noted that emotional wellness is the ability to cope effectively with life and build satisfying relationships with others. People with healthy emotional wellness feel confident, in control of their feelings and behaviour, and are able to handle life’s challenges.
“After the first workshop we hope to sensitise the youth about how to have a wider perception of life. After the first workshop we will be conducting more like this and we will also have a holiday programme which will go more in-depth,” said Ms Clarisse.
Mr Manjengwa said it is important for the young people to have an understanding of the eight dimensions as it will principally help them in terms of decision making as well as financial decisions in the future.
“I will definitely put in practice what we will learn today as it will help me while making decisions in the future as well as sharing what we have learned today with our peers who did not attend,” said Fabianna Belise, a 16-year-old girl from Pointe Larue secondary school.