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A Father Steps Up

Regie and his family

Fathers are a rarity among our Transform participants where 88% of our participants are mothers. So when a father does join the trainings, he is an immediate standout in their batch. Regie, a father of two from Ayungon, Negros Oriental, is one of the fathers who joined Transform and successfully completed all 15 weeks of training.

“I am always excited every week to join the program because I know it would really help me to develop new skills and my relationship with the Lord,” Regie shared.

Regie outside his house, with his habal-habal

Regie is a habal-habal (passenger motorbike) driver. Before the pandemic, he earned enough for his family’s daily needs. However, during the lockdown, he lost his passengers and his source of income. And even after the lockdown, he had fewer and fewer passengers. “I had been very anxious and lost enthusiasm in socializing,” he said. “I worried about how I would provide for my family, especially because I have two children going to school. Through Transform, I gained my confidence back. This is why it doesn’t bother me that I’m the only man in the training. I even encouraged other to join instead.”

At first, Regie thought that Transform were just activities for mothers. But when he joined, he found that the training is for everyone, especially for those who want to improve their lives and develop news skills.

Regie awarded Top 1 during the Transform Graduation with his Wife

Before Transform, Regie said that he felt that his life was missing something. He had vices and was surrounded by bad company. He didn’t spend time with his wife and children which led a to strained relationship with his family. He and his wife argued over small things and he didn’t have a close relationship with his two children.

Now, Regie has become more intentional in building a stronger relationship with his wife and children. He now has friends in his community and chooses his friends wisely. He even stopped drinking. “I interact with both moms and dads like me. Because I am the only man in our Transform training, it led me to deeply understand the role of mothers,” he said. “I began to appreciate them more, which is why I began to express it to my beloved wife.”

His neighbors noticed the changes in Regie’s life and relationships. He shared, “Not to brag, but my neighbor told me that I inspire them. Me, being in vices back then, I can’t believe people would see me as an encouragement and a message of hope.” A lot of his neighbors’ husbands ask for his advice on building a stronger relationship with their wives. Some moms are asking his wife for tips to make a small business prosper. “And our response is that it all because of God through ICM’s Transform program.”

Regie and his wife work together on their snacks business. Sometimes she cooks the snacks and Regie delivers them. Sometimes, Regie cooks them himself. He and his wife wake up as early as 2 AM if they can sell it in the afternoon, or stay up late if they need to deliver the snacks or sell it early in the morning.

Regie mixing the ingredients for Puto Cheese

“I am now earning an additional 300 to 500 pesos on top of my income from being a habal-habal driver,” he said.

Regie knows that graduating from Transform doesn’t mean that everything is going to be easy and smooth sailing from now on, but he is grateful for the new skills and knowledge and personal growth that he got from the training.

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude as God used ICM as an instrument for me to be blessed. I never was this confident to face the future in my entire life, all because I was filled with learnings during our HLV training. Because of the Transform Program, I was able to start a small business and provide for my family. I was able to know more about God and serve Him along with my family. And I realized the importance of health care through proper hygiene, diet, and discipline.

“I man up by completing the Transform Program and gaining new skills and knowledge to overcome poverty for my family’s sake. I am beyond grateful for ICM, that helped me improve as a father, a husband, a worker, and mostly, as a Christian.”

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