Category: Cebu

International Care Ministries’ efforts to save the ultra-poor from hunger during COVID-19 quarantine   Hunger is a devastating by-product of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. With strict quarantine regulations in place since March 15, approximately 30 million Filipinos who live in poverty are struggling with hunger.    International Care Ministries (ICM), a Filipino NGO,...

The United Nations has declared May 15th as the annual International Day of Families.  The theme for this year’s day is: Families, education and well-being. The Day highlights the importance of all caregivers in families, be it parents, grandparents or siblings and the importance of parental education for the welfare of children. It focuses on...

Mother-of-three Engely is delighted with the knowledge her daughter, Charmy Angel, has gained in the three weeks she has been attending ICM’s Family Academy. Engely hopes a stronger academic foundation will give Charmy Angel a confidence that Charmy’s older sister lacked when she started primary school. “I want my children to learn as early as...

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...

For over 20 years, Conchita lived with a cyst on her neck that distrupted her sleep and caused discomfort. The local midwife in Conchita’s village warned her against overworking, which meant Conchita needed to pare back the hours she spent washing clothes to earn money. Forced to rely on her husband’s unstable fishing income to...

Virginia, 40, has lived with feelings of resentment and hopelessness ever since her husband’s souvenir business went bankrupt many years ago. When cheaper, lower qualtity products from China flooded the market, Nicanor’s  business simply could not compete with their low prices, despite the high quality of his merchandise. Eventually Nicanor lost his customers and had...

Lisa, 29, lives with her partner and four young children in a small house built of scrap metal and wood with no electricity or toilet. Growing up, Lisa’s mother had five husbands and a gambling addiction. At 12 years of age, Lisa left home for Manila to work as a housemaid. At 13-years-old she fell...

By Christine Joyce Ajoc, ICM Project Manager, Weekley Project “Are you dreaming BIG enough?” This was the challenge posed to the attendees by the National Livelihood Convergence (NLC), an event organized by ICM’s Livelihood Department in Cebu City, Philippines on September 23-25, 2013, through the generous sponsorship of the David Weekley Family Foundation. The Convergence...