Category: General Santos

From Trouble Maker to Livelihood Trainer

In the fight against poverty, we are thankful for our local staff here in the Philippines. They are the ones at the frontlines, doing what it takes to reach communities in need. Most of them know first-hand the struggles our participants face. In fact, Jason of our General Santos base was even a participant in...

A Gift from Afar

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...

Stepping Up During An Emergency

A mother of a Jumpstart kindergarten student was admitted to a hospital due to complications in her pregnancy. Hinie Jean had severe oligohydramnios  (deficiency of amniotic fluid) which was endangering the development of her baby. Although Hinie Jean was in dire need of treatment, she was referred to another hospital in General Santos City because...

ICM Trainers Reach Indigenous Villages by Horseback

Report by Bernard Bocado, ICM GenSan CO  //  Text by Erica Gurdiel-Etbew, ICM Junior Editor, and Meng Valientes, ICM Senior Editor Despite modern technology, the partnership between man and animal will continue to be effective; Policemen have dogs, farmers have cows, shepherds have sheep and in the case of our ICM General Santos Trainers, they...

TOMS “One for One” Movement Reaches ICM Jumpstart Students

Sue Hamilton, ICM Volunteer Writer/Editor The recent TOMS shoe drop to all ICM Bases in the Philippines was a cause for great excitement for many ICM recipients.  TOMS, a US-based shoe retailer, developed a “One for One” movement that has provided ten million new pairs of TOMS shoes to impoverished children in over 60 countries...

Simple Health Training Saves Baby’s Life

The Hualde family lives in a squatter area in San Isidro Lagao, General Santos City. Their house is made of scrap materials and is built on lowland, prone to flooding. In early January 2013, heavy rain had caused floodwater to reach knee level inside their home. Arlene Hualde, a housewife and an ICM Transform Program...

The Story of Shaimie

At the age of three, little Shaimie weighed just 5.2 kg (11.4 lbs).  Barely more than skin and bones, she couldn’t sit up or stand, let alone walk.  Her mother Marlita longed to hear Shaimie call her “mama” but her severely malnourished condition had impaired her cognitive development and she hadn’t yet begun to talk....

From the Field: This is why I work for ICM…

As the Finance Officer in the ICM Hong Kong Office, I spend most of my day on spreadsheets, filling out forms, and at the bank.  Last week I had the opportunity to visit our ICM base in General Santos with the Transform Program sponsors from Union Church HK. When we were visiting the Transform Program, one...

Livelihood comes to the Malnourished Children Outreach (MCO) program!

by Helen Turner, ICM COO After successful trials during 2011/12 ICM has been able to develop a training model to incorporate the values, health and livelihood training for the parents of the Malnourished Children Outreach (MCO) participants.  It is an exciting model involving local community members represented by the local Church Pastor and three Church...

Celebrating Education with Real LIFE

We are happy to announce that ICM’s first kindergarten students have crossed the outstanding milestone of graduating from grade 6!  ICM began operating kindergartens in 2006 and now, seven years later, ten tenacious young people have received their elementary school diplomas, many graduating with honors!  In the last seven years, ICM’s Jumpstart Kindergartens and subsequent...