Silsilah inaugurates Center for Holistic Health Care in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 24, 2010) – The Silsilah Dialogue Movement inaugurated the Center for Holistic Health Care and the Silsilah Dialogue Institute Conference Hall on May 20, 2010 in Harmony village in Pitogo in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

The inauguration also coincided with the launching of the Silsilah Alumni Special Year.

The Center for Holistic Health Care is the result of reflection over time on how to implement an initiative which is aligned with a pillar of dialogue, dialogue with creation, and which will promote a holistic, preventive approach to basic health care.

The Center for Holistic Health Care is the fruit of that reflection, according to Father Sebastiano D’ Ambra, the Silsilah founder.

The inauguration of the Center for Holistic Health Care was graced by the presence of distinguished guests like Doctor Aristedes Tan, the regional director of the Department of Health in Western Mindanao; Doctor Rodelin Agbulos, of the Zamboanga City Health Office; Father Antonio Moreno, the president of Ateneo de Zamboanga University; and members of the Center for Holistic Health Care Board of Volunteer Consultants, among others.

"I am living this great experience of dialogue in the same way I experienced the beginning of the movement. I hope the hope and spirit become bigger as these are what make Silsilah a real movement. For the next years to come, I would like to see Silsilah moving outside Zamboanga by means of many dialogue approaches," Father D’ Ambra said.

"One of such approach would be strengthening the effort in the different Silsilah Forum areas around the Philippines. After 25 years, the dialogue experience has become a reality not only to Silsilah but to other institutions who have understood the spiritual dimension of the essence of dialogue and peace. In the past, religion has been the occasion of conflict; instead religion must be an opportunity for reconciliation giving more attention to the centrality of God in the life of humanity," the Silsilah founder said.

The Center for Holistic Health Care promotes a holistic, preventive approach to basic health care. It seeks to promote healthy diet and the healing properties of herbs and other naturally occurring plants. This philosophy of health is promoted largely through training and health services.

The Center for Holistic Health Care is an expression of care in building a culture of dialogue, path to peace in the society in line with the vision and mission of Silsilah that promotes a style of life guided by the spirituality of life-in-dialogue with God, with self, with other and with creation according to each one’s own religion.

The Center for Holistic Health Care also plans to build linkages with various government agencies and with similar holistic health care centers in the Philippines and other countries. (Jung Francisco and Ramon Deles)