From Ultra-Poverty to Businesswoman to Teacher!

Six years ago, poverty put Mylene’s dreams on the brink of failure. She dreamed of becoming a teacher and helping her family, and through the Transform Program and the savings group, her dreams have taken form and flight.

The eldest in the brood of five, she summed up her life before the ICM programs: “It was hard.” To help her parents with her school expenses, she’d work too. She gathered and sold firewood and even worked as a farm laborer. Her father eventually mortgaged their farm, and thus made her future bleak.

In her final year in college in 2018, she joined Transform. After completing the program, Mylene and her Transform community formed the Kansan Savings Group. Through this savings group, she got access to funds to help her complete her studies and graduate. “I took out a loan to cover my tuition fees and school expenses,” she gratefully shared. After graduation, she set out to work while preparing for the Teacher’s Board Examinations. 

Unfortunately, she did not make it on her first try in 2020.

But Mylene was unfazed; her dream of a better life remained strong. She took on a business loan from Kansan and bought and sold clothes. As she managed her own business, she also held on to her goal of becoming a licensed teacher. 

In two years, she finally passed, got her teaching license, and in the succeeding year, she got appointed as a schoolteacher in Ludin Logan Indigenous People School. Despite her school assignment—which required her to travel far and stay in the school’s community—Mylene’s enthusiasm for teaching and the savings group did not wane. “Even though I am a teacher now, I did not leave the savings group because I wanted to help our members.” Aside from the Kansan Savings Group, she also helps other savings groups as an auditor.

Through the savings groups, her entrepreneurial and business skills took flight. After her first business, she shifted to a bigger and more lucrative venture—selling motorcycle parts and accessories. It was a bold move, as she took a $1,200 loan to start the new business, which is going strong. 

Finally, as proof that her dream has truly taken form, Mylene has finally redeemed her father’s farm and is now back in the family. 

“No one can match God’s plan!” she declared as she looked back at how her dream of a better life came true.

Written by Meng Valientes, with reports from Baltazar Novilla.