“I realized you have changed, so I should change too.” When Rexmar spoke these words to his wife Diana, she realised the lessons she had learned had affected more than her mind and heart. Diana’s personal motivation earned her a spot in ICM’s Transform program. When she overheard a pastor inviting a neighbor to attend the...

Life is tough for Maricel. Her family lives in ultra poverty. Maricel and her husband are rice field laborers and earn a combined monthly income of US$22.22/PHP1,000, well under what is needed to provide for their family of four. Maricel didn’t graduate from elementary school – her parents had been unable to pay for her...

Yesterday, Shore Student Alex shared his thoughts on the school’s recent ‘Make A Difference’ trip to ICM’s Bacolod base. Today, fellow student Ben examines what the trip meant to him. Our thanks to both Alex and Ben for their insights and hard work. I distinctly recall the thoughts racing through my head as I boarded...

Shore School students Ben and Alex and joined their school’s November 23 –Dec 1, 2016 ‘Making A Difference’ trip to ICM’s base in Bacolod, Philippines.  This first blog contains Alex’s recollections of his first encounter with poverty, tomorrow’s blog will feature Ben’s reflections. My trip with ICM was one that I will never forget. Before...

In 2016, we celebrated the graduation of our 750,000th Transform family member. Her name is Mary Sunshine and her story is told in this video: Mary Sunshine and her family live in ultrapoverty. Mary Sunshine’s husband, Ryan, earns about US$34.88 (PHP 1,500) per week working with tires, not nearly enough to look after the small family’s financial needs....

Life was chaotic for Meraluna. Pregnant, with four children, a husband, sister and nephew to support, the tiny weekly income (US$3/PHP150) she earned washing people’s clothes didn’t begin to cover the family’s expenses. Desperate, the overworked Meraluna did what most people in her community did in hopes of earning money – she placed bets on...

Many wishes for a wonderful Christmas from your friends at ICM!

“Please help our child receive surgery. We want her to grow up normally,  become happy and be successful in the future.” This was Jonamie and Jeperlito’s plea for their three-year-old daughter, Jasmine.   Jasmine appeared to be a healthy seven-month-old until one day she began to vomit uncontrollably. Her parents rushed Jasmine to the hospital...

Amie wasn’t convinced that attending an ICM Transform program would benefit her. She expected the Transform program to be filled with a few ineffective lectures and a bit of cash distribution and to have no lasting worth.   After starting the Transform program, Amie’s early fears were proved wrong and she realized her perspective and attitude...

Over 7,000 Christmas presents are headed to children in ICM programs, thanks to Hong Kong charity Box of Hope. Box of Hope is an annual charity project aimed at providing useful/educational gifts to underprivileged children in Hong Kong & Asia donated by Hong Kong school children and local organisations. Founded by Nicole Woolhouse and Harriet...