Well-being workbook shows how happiness and activism can co-exist

Welcome to Amnesty International’s second volume in its series ‘Staying Resilient While Trying go Save The World’ – a well-being workbook for youth activists.

Written alongside youth activists and informed by the realities faced by young people around the word, Staying Resilient While Trying to Save The World, Volume 2, shows how happiness and activism can co-exist.

The aim of the workbook is to support youth activists in their journey to strengthen their self-care and make us all recognise the need to look after each other as we stand up for human rights. When we care for each other, it is possible to sustain activism and balance it with happiness.

This workbook builds on the Fanzine, which is Volume 1 in the series. This is a comic written and created by young people from all over the Americas designed to give youth ideas that could help them avoid the most common pitfalls of being an activist.

Volume 2, the workbook, offers a combination of first-person stories, graphics, theory and exercises, covering 17 different topics, including why it’s OK to see professional help; how to respond to microagressions; symptoms of stress, anxiety and burnout; as well as techniques on how to manage them.

Staying Resilient While Trying To Save The World

Read our new well-being workbook

As young people continue to come together to bravely fight for a just and equal world, self-care has never been so important – and this workbook provides the tools needed to take care of yourself and each other as part of your activism.

Yara Eid, is a 20-year-old activist, who grew up in Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territories. By the age of 14 she lived through three wars and saw people dying in front of her eyes. Soon after, she decided she had to leave Gaza and make a change and got a scholarship to pursue her education.

Since she’s lived in the UK, she’s made it her mission to educate people about the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As a member of Amnesty Internationals Global Youth Collective she worked with other young people to create Amnesty International’s, Staying Resilient While Trying To Save The World, Volume 2.

“Young activists face so much resistance every day. Sometimes it can make you feel like giving up. I have felt many times that my actions don’t matter, but I try to keep reminding myself that every little bit can leave an impact. When I share my story of growing up in Gaza and my campaign for human rights, I can see how I am changing people’s views and making them care about human rights,” Yara Eid said.

“For many activists, fighting for human rights and what we have personally lived through can impact our mental health. It is important to be mindful of our well-being and try to take care of ourselves and our communities. Amnesty International activists have tried to put together a workbook that covers lots of different ways to look after your mental health and reminds you that you are not on your own. We designed it as a comic book style so hopefully it’s an easy read. When you read it, remember that taking care of yourself and your well-being comes first.”