The Sisa Project takes its name from Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not),  José Rizal’s revolutionary novel of the Philippines. Sisa, a mother driven to madness by the loss of her children to injustice and violence, has come to symbolize the deep wounds carried by families under systems of oppression. Her grief is not only personal — it is collective, echoing the suffering of generations who have lost children, parents, and community to poverty, incarceration, addiction, and war.

For me, as a Filipina immigrant who worked with women and families in the Philippines and now works with people in recovery, correctional facilities, and community spaces in the U.S., Sisa represents both the pain of disconnection and the fierce love that refuses to die. She is an archetype for mothers and fathers, for children and siblings, for whole families fractured by trauma — and for the possibility of healing, resilience, and reunion.

The Sisa Project is my initiative to carry forward this work: creating spaces where grief can be witnessed, where resilience can grow, and where both men and women, families and communities, can begin to stitch together what has been torn apart.