Dreams came true for the ICM Children’s Choir this past December.  The fourteen kids traveled to the USA to perform at the Washington DC ICM Banquet and at multiple other events and venues in D.C. and New Jersey.  The goal was to raise awareness of (and support for) ICM’s Philippine work.  They left a powerful...

Eyewitness; Words and Photos by ICM COO, Helen Turner Tropical Storm Washi has left a devastating mark on the Northern part of Mindanao, Philippines.  The effected areas reached farther north to the city of Dumaguete on the Island of Negros, where one of our bases is located.  ICM COO, Helen Turner, was in Dumaguete attending...

A girl’s 18th birthday in the Philippines is a much-anticipated passage from adolescence to adulthood.  For Lotlot, this was an especially unforgettable day as she glowed in the excitement of a surprise 18th birthday party thrown by her sixteen “sisters and brothers” at ICM’s Excel House, in Bacolod.  Lotlot, who suffers from cerebral palsy, looked...

Submitted by Helen Turner, ICM COO // Photos by Bens King, ICM Graphic Designer ICM’s Philippine Executive Committee joined Cross International’s Leadership Conference September 6th– 7th at a retreat center in Tagaytay, Philippines.  The focus of the conference was to develop collaborative ways to address the complex problem of poverty in the Philippines. The conference...

Story by Tess Lyons, ICM Development Officer //  Video courtesy of Lynn Ketch, ICM Trip Participant  “Happy Birthday to You” is the most frequently sung song in the world, but not just because of the number of birthdays celebrated each day.  This is the song the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recommends singing for 20...

“This is my second time going with ICM and I’ve been there four times with my family,” said ten-year-old Xavier, who was part of a recent group of parents and children from the Kellett School in Hong Kong.  Xavier helped build houses at the ICM slum reconstruction site and also helped dig a sewage ditch...

Even though primary education in the Philippines is free, students are required to provide their own shoes, books and uniforms in order to attend school.  Without these commodities, children will not be admitted.  Families living in extreme poverty cannot afford these things and so their children do not go. As the teachers and children from...

Diary Entry by Rebecka Kaltenbach, KIVU Gap Year Participant Camp KIVU is a Christian adventure camp in Colorado, USA where teenagers go to experience the great outdoors.  One of their programs, called KIVU Gap Year, reaches out to students taking a year off in between high school and college.  These students spend the year traveling...

Story by Mia Deocadiz, ICM HK Office Intern At the cozy Classified restaurant in Hong Kong, eight-year-old teacher, David Paul from Bacolod City strutted his stuff. His ‘students’ for the day – a group of 19 sponsored bankers – paid full attention to his every word. The goal for the night was to raise US$100,000 to...

Story by Lily Talaban, ICM CO, Bacolod Many Filipinos dream about working abroad in order to provide more for their families.  ICM’s Malnourished Children Outreach program leader in Bacolod, Dolores Gagatam, had this very opportunity. She had been working with ICM since 1993, but in 2007 she accepted a job in Canada.  While in Canada, Dolores...