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Ms. Luela R. Villagarcia, RSW
Area Development Coordinator, Laguna
Atikha Overseas Workers & Communities Initiative Inc.

Ms. Luela R. Villagarcia, RSWMs. Villagarcia is a Registered Social Worker (RSW). She took her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the Asian Social Institute, Manila. She has also a degree on Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She received a diploma for short term course on psycho-spiritual formation and counseling from the Emmaus Foundation.

She was also a recipient of study grant at the University of Vienna. She has travelled in several parts of Europe and had fruitful experiences living with different nationalities and went on various cultures in her four-year stay abroad for a mission work and religious formation.

Ms. Villagarcia has worked with Atikha for 5 years in its program that address the social cost of migration on the families left behind especially the children. She is involved in organizing the children left behind and in developing peer counselors.

She has more than 15 years of experience in counseling and dealing with the clientele group of children, youth, men, women and family. She previously worked as a counselor therapist and spiritual formator in a non-government organization working for human dignity and for human rights especially sexually abused, commercially exploited children and women, children in conflict with the law and child workers.

Ms. Villagarcia worked on Peer Counseling module and the articles on Peer Counseling for the books published by Atikha: Children’s Response to the Challenge of Migration: Trainors’ Training Manual and Ang Migrasyong Pilipino: Mga Kaugnay na Kahalagahan at Kagalingang Dapat Malinang sa Kabataan: Teksto at Banghay Aralin.

She co-authored the article on “The Unquantified Cost of Leaving Home” for the book Coming Home, Migration and Reintegration: A Trainers’ Training Manual on Financial Planning and Addressing Barriers to Reintegration for OFWs and their Families.

Her expertise is in training on psychosocial issues among overseas Filipinos, seafarers, their families especially their children. She is the lead trainer in Atikha’s Financial Literacy and Psychosocial Intervention Seminar in the last 4 years.