Our entire value system at the Little Archers Learning Center is centered on the Filipino value of Kapwa.  Our understanding of kapwa is rooted on the Filipino concept of self. 

There are three aspects of the Filipino person, the loob, labas and lalim.  For the Filipino, our loob is the ultimate, organizing center of human reality; the very zone of his humanity where one’s ideas, feelings and behavior reside.  Loob is the authentic self of the person; the real, core constituent character of the person. 

Kapwa can be taken to mean the unity of ones’ self with the self of others.  The kapwa relationship exists when we start to consider ourselves  one and the same with the other person in recognizing our shared identity and shared roots.  Kapwa understood this way is similar to the Filipino word for sibling, kapatid, which literally means cut from the same (umbilical) cord.  The kapwa paradigm removes the dichotomy that exists between differentiating members of an in-group and out group in a culture because this accepts and relates with the other person as a total equal, with respectful regard for the dignity and well-being of the other.

Kapwa then means the relation of one’s loob to another person’s loob.  As loob interacting with loob, kapwa creates a dynamic symbiosis where one recognizes in the other the other’s authentic inner self where their true worth lies.

Kapwa is a plea to recognize the common human condition that exists among all of us.  It is a call to recognize the loob of another person and realize that this loob is inextricably linked to our loob because of our common humanity.