Kapwa Collective

c, activist, and other communities in Toronto. The Kapwa Collective functions as a mutual support group based on the core value of “kapwa”. Virgilio G. Enriquez, known as the founder of Filipino Psychology or Sikolohiyang Pilipino initially proposed a concept of personhood centered on the core value expressed in the word “kapwa”. In the words of the scholar Katrin de Guia:

Kapwa is a Tagalog term widely used when addressing another with the intention of establishing a connection. It reflects a viewpoint that beholds the essential humanity recognizable in everyone, therefore linking (including) people rather than separating (excluding) them from each other. Enriquez felt that this orientation was an expression of ‘humanness at its highest level’.

- Kapwa: The Self in the Other, Worldviews and Lifestyles of Filipino Culture-Bearers, 2005

The members of the Kapwa Collective are: Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, Christine Balmes, Aimee Gomez, Jennifer Maramba, Mykelle Pacquing, and Kristen Sison.