According to a Philippine National Demographic and Health survey, one in four Filipino women aged 15 to 49 has experienced domestic abuse. Poverty seems to be a factor  with women from low-income households suffering even more than other groups; some of these women have even had their lives threatened.  Erlinda, a Transform participant from Tacloban,...

Growing up with a physically abusive father who’s now serving time in jail, 5-year-old Ella Mae has found refuge in her mother who cares deeply for her. Ella Mae lives in a bamboo house near the river with her mother and her three older siblings where access to education is hard. After two years into...

As we celebrate National Heroes Day, let us meet some of the new heroes of the new normal! During the pandemic, ICM launched the Flourish program that raised Community Health Champions (CHCs) among the Transform participants and we trained them to be their community’s health advocates. This program has been steadily making a difference in...

On August 23, in partnership with Rise Against Hunger Philippines (RAHPH), volunteers from PayPal Philippines helped ICM pack 36,288 meals for ultra-poor families in Iloilo. The volunteers packed 42 boxes per two-hour shift from 9:00 AM to 9:30 PM at the PayPal Headquarters in Alabang, Muntinlupa. PayPal Country Head John Nicholls who also happened to...

Do you believe that miracles can still happen today? Whether you do or not, it would be hard to deny that Maricel’s and her family’s story is nothing short of extraordinary. A dark night Although it has already been months since Typhoon Odette carved a path of destruction through several provinces in Central Visayas and...

Manila, Philippines — International Care Ministries (ICM) rallied over 400 volunteers at the Conrad Hotel on July 14, 2022 to assemble 16,000 meal packs for families living in ultra-poverty in Visayas and Mindanao. Hope Begins with a Meal is ICM’s biggest meal-packing volunteer activity to date, done in partnership with Rise Against Hunger Philippines and...

It was like a scene from a movie. Only four days earlier, Jocel’s husband died of a heart attack. His body lay in a coffin at her mother-in-law’s house surrounded by five young children mourning the death of their father. It was going to be Christmas in a few days. That evening, Typhoon Odette made...

Whenever a super typhoon hits the Philippines, the whole country comes together to help the stricken provinces. We send relief goods, clothes, water, and supplies. However, it takes more than relief supplies to recover from the devastation of a natural disaster, and it survivors need time to rebuild, to heal, and to recover. This is...

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...

“As we go through different seasons, I felt that it would be more meaningful — and I would be so privileged, to give it to a bigger cause. I felt that even in the future designs, I would always consider channels like this to give it to the underprivileged communities,” ICM supporter and talented accessories...