Who are we
Who are we
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Community Wellbeing through Care
Community Wellbeing through Care
We are focused on promoting and enhancing the wellbeing of communities in Asia.
We acknowledge care as the active process, or the "driver", of wellbeing. A community’s health is a direct result of the way people look out for one another; Wellbeing is an outcome produced by the act of caring. Thus, we work towards creating a space, through conversation, pause and activity, for various communities to explore and co-create approaches, strategies and pathways in our journey towards wellbeing as collective whole.
The specific challenges in our communities may vary widely, and they could include issues related to mental health, physical health, social connectedness, economic stability, emotional capacity, cultural shifts and preservation, amongst many others.
Thus, we are :
Process-focused - we emphasize on "Community Care" (mutual aid, checking in on neighbours, collective responsibility) as the primary way wellbeing is achieved.
Relational/Active - we focus on the interdependence of humans in society and in the community; It isn't just about having services; it’s about the culture of looking out for each other.
Empowerment - we lead by example in caring for one another, and the community will generates its own resilience, especially in the face of systemic gaps.
We approach the role of care as the engine for community wellbeing : "We are well because we care. Connection & Mutual Action are the behaviours that result from the care that we have from each other."
We are engaged on many levels through advocacy, education, research and community outreach to address this approach to care and to foster overall wellbeing within communities. Care is an active social process, and wellbeing is not just a "service" received, but a collective state generated by the people themselves through mutual aid and shared responsibility.
We serve as facilitators, guides and mentors, to shift the control of wellbeing, to the community itself, where the everyday actions of neighbours looking out for each other become the formula to living healthily.
Our beliefs and values towards community wellbeing, is symbolised through our logo, and further elaborated here.
Why do we do what we do? Why is this work important to us?
Why do we do what we do? Why is this work important to us?
We all care about something or someone, just whether we are aware of it.
And until we are aware of it, we realise, we are all care givers, and then, also care receivers. We need to be well enough, to be able to provide and give care to others.
And since care is such a big part of our lives, let’s care better. For self, and for others.
Our Community Wellbeing Facilitators (CWF), Aifa Ahmad and Michelle Ow, have come full circle, from being full of passion to being emptied, to being filled again, with the desire to support others in their self and community care. And this might just be why it is time for you to take a pause from taking care of others, to take a moment to take care of yourself!
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Michelle and Aifa, connected over a weekend trip to Malacca, as they shared and bonded over their respective journeys as women entrepreneurs and caregivers in their families, and how they did not know how much they themselves needed to be taken care of, even as they took care of those around them. For both, there had come a point when the responsibilities upon them felt just a bit too much. Both desperately needed a space to release the weight of expectations that were wearing them out, and to just refresh and rejuvenate, so that they could find their energy again.
The Centre for Community Wellbeing was born out of that desire to create a safe space for those who support others, to pause, and to simply rest and breathe, and put down the burdens on their minds and in our hearts, in a space where they need not fear judgement.
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In the 2010s, Michelle was the head of two companies, taking care of more than a dozen staff. She had no language then for what was going on with her. Burnout and depression were not things that were spoken about widely enough, for her to be able to name what she was experiencing.
Back then, she was just barely aware that her fuse seemed to be getting shorter, and she swept it aside as just needing to "get the job done". But having to let go of staff, when she felt responsible for the livelihoods of those under her care, took a real emotional toll on her.
Michelle still remembers that one evening when it just got too much for her. She started to move the furniture around the office, all the while crying hot, angry tears. Collapsed onto the floor, it was when the thought of self harm crossed her mind that she stopped herself in the tracks. She realised something was very wrong, and she told herself, “Stop what you are doing now, and go home.”
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Aifa can resonate with this feeling of ‘empty’ and a need for a space for these carers who’ve come to the end of themselves.
The eldest of 4 siblings, Aifa similarly found herself in a place of overwhelming expectations and responsibilities towards her family. Even when she was going through a tough time personally, dealing with everything from the pressures of running her business to her miscarriage, she was the one who was constantly checking in with others on how they were doing. But no one was doing the same for her, and no one knew just how hopeless and fatigued she was feeling herself.
Eventually, when she started a family of her own, with her husband and 2 children, this labour of love continued, to now care for even more people. While she loves them deeply and enjoys her time with her family, holding space for the relationships, for the responsibility of care for all the people around her, she too relishes the time to care for herself, and to allow others to care for her.
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The path to restoration has been a learning journey in itself, for both Michelle and Aifa. It was only in more recent years that they have come into the language to help them more fully express their experience. They’ve had to unlearn things, and to learn new practices.
With a compassion for themselves and other carers borne out of their own experience, they hope that more can become aware of the signals for the call for help that their bodies are giving them. And to learn to ask for support.
They believe it is not not just about self care, but community care. And this is embodied in the name of their project, which speaks of Community Wellbeing, an ecosystem of support that can provide the space for people to come together when they are on ‘empty’.
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We understand and empathise the importance of taking a pause, seeking and receiving support & help, and learning to care for ourselves, so that we can care for others better.
2026 Calendar of Events
2026 Calendar of Events
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