Kapwa: Strengthening Seafarer Mental Health and Relationships Across Borders
Narra Health is a mental health company in the Philippines built on a simple belief: people do their best work, and live their best lives, when their mental health is cared for before problems arise. We provide holistic, preventative support to those who have dedicated their lives to serving others: OFWs and Frontliners.
This September, we partnered with K Marine Ship Management Pte. Ltd. (KMSM) to help their crew strengthen the relationships that carry them through life at sea, guided by Kapwa, the Filipino value of shared identity that sees each person as connected to the people around them.
KMSM is a Singapore-based ship management company serving oil tankers, LPG carriers, LNG carriers, and LNG bunkering vessels across Asia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. and one of the global bases of the “K” Line Group. Our partnership began early this year when KMSM reached out for mental wellbeing options for their Filipino seafarers.
On September 25, 2026, we held Kapwa: Strengthening Relationships Across Borders at SAVEA Bay City Manila, a morning program on seafarer mental health for KMSM crew members and decision-makers. The session was facilitated by Jay Mark S. Cabrera, Psychologist, one of our trusted Narra Buddies. Rather than focusing on the distance between seafarers and their families, this session turned toward the people seafarers live and work beside every day: their fellow crew.
Belonging as Protection Against Loneliness at Sea
Life at sea can make loneliness feel like something each person has to carry alone. We started from a different premise: feeling seen, included, and supported can lessen the emotional weight of being away from home and protect seafarer mental health.
Instead of treating loneliness as an individual burden, the session framed connection as a shared responsibility. Regular check-ins, attentive listening, and small gestures of care are how a crew builds that connection over time.
Kapwa and Bayanihan: Connection in Action
Kapwa invites us to see the wellbeing of one person as connected to the wellbeing of the whole crew. That shift encourages respect, empathy, and sensitivity in the way crewmates treat each other every day.
Bayanihan, the Filipino spirit of community and mutual help, turns that shared identity into action. Onboard, it can look like checking in on a crewmate, offering help before it’s asked for, or making space for an honest conversation.
By the end of the session, participants’ understanding of shared identity and mutual connection rose from 62% to 95%.
Resilience, Respect, and a Safer Crew Culture for Seafarer Wellbeing
Resilience is often pictured as enduring difficulty alone. In this session, we framed it as something a crew builds together, through reciprocal support, respectful communication, and sensitivity to what others may be carrying. A strong majority of participants recognized that staying connected, or becoming disconnected, affects both themselves and the people around them.
Throughout the session, the challenges participants face onboard were acknowledged rather than overlooked. When crewmates live and work side by side, how they treat one another shapes everyone’s experience at sea. Respect, psychological safety, and belonging are at the heart of seafarer wellbeing. They make a crew a place where no one is made to feel small, targeted, or unwelcome and where no one is left to struggle alone.
From Theory to Practice
We opened with “Affirm Tayo,” an icebreaker where a ball was passed around to music. When the music stopped, whoever held the ball shared an affirmation with a colleague. The room filled with laughter and lighthearted jokes, alongside sincere commendations as participants recognized colleagues for being kind, supportive, and professional in their work.
Jay then guided participants through a Narra Fitness activity, How Can I Keep In Touch with My Kababayan?, where they reflected on practical ways to stay connected with their kababayan, or fellow Filipinos, and strengthen their sense of belonging onboard.
The centerpiece was the Kapwa Community Pantry: Rebuilding a Shared Home. Each participant wrote down one form of emotional support they wanted to offer their colleagues and posted it on one side of the board. They then looked through everyone’s “offerings” and posted the support they most needed to build resilience onboard on the other side.
What stood out was how intentionally participants engaged with one another. Rather than completing the activity individually, they discussed and collaborated around the support being offered and sought. Two-thirds of participants later named it the most impactful part of the session.
Throughout the workshop, Jay created a safe, warm, and fun space. He consistently validated the challenges participants described about life onboard. He also noticed small moments of connection and teamwork among them, even before the formal activities began, and commended them during the session, reinforcing the sense of belonging the workshop was built around.
Participants rated the workshop 4.51 out of 5, and 36 of 37 respondents said they would recommend it to a colleague or friend. As one participant shared, “The workshop has a great wave of effect to participants in encouraging being a ‘Kapwa’ to each other.”
At Narra Health, we believe mental health care works best when it is preventative, holistic, and culturally relevant, rooted in values Filipinos already live by. For seafarers, the crew becomes a shared home, and helping them care for one another is some of the most meaningful work we do for seafarer mental health.
If your organization is looking to support seafarer wellbeing, or the wellbeing of your OFWs or frontliner teams, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected].
