Category: Livelihood

“Every day is not a harvest day. Where could I get financial help to meet our daily needs?” This is a question that Criselda asked when she looked at her family and the growing needs. The weight of her family fell upon her shoulders when her husband suddenly passed away from heatstroke during a harvest...

…how you make a living! And that’s not easy! Most ultrapoor families struggle with even keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Things like buying medicine, sending children to school and paying for electricity are difficult, if not impossible. In Transform’s Livelihood lessons, trainers teach the participants how to bring in...

Widowed and living with her two children and three grandchildren, Dolores had every excuse to lose hope. Only she and her son had jobs, and even with their combined income, they only had PHP19 (USD 0.40) a day per person to cover their daily expenses. But instead of faltering, she persevered and now her story...

Although Rhona’s savings group in Bacolod has only been running for two years, it has become hugely successful. The group, established during Transform, began by selling detergent powder and dishwashing liquid and then later transitioned into selling rice and fertilizer. Extending loans to its members is one of the group’s main functions, vital in a...

Tragedy seemed to follow Cristita. Four years ago, her husband died from kidney and liver problems. Her 30-year-old son, traumatized by troubles in life, could no longer work or even walk, sitting at home and rarely speaking. With her 26-year-old daughter unemployed, the burden of caring for her two children and one grandson fell on...

Life for elderly couple, Rosalina and her husband was tough with a weekly income of just US$15 (PHP700) from selling goods in a small sari-sari store. Due to their physical health deteriorating, Rosalina and her husband, both aged 67, were unable to do jobs involving heavy lifting. When Rosalina was invited to join ICM’s Transform...

The idea of gardening is appealing to many. What’s not to love about saving money while growing your own food? Eating healthy is effortless when you have grown juicy tomatoes and leafy lettuce yourself. While gardening sounds tempting, not everyone has the luxury of enough land to start their own vegetable plot. Many of our...

Mylin, 23, lives with her partner Roderick and their nine-month-old daughter Yuri, in a house made of bamboo and palm leaves. They do not have electricity or proper water supply. Working as a farmer, Roderick makes roughly PHP2,000 (US$46.51) a month. His earnings equal US$0.51 per person, per day. It’s hard to believe that Mylin...

With more than 25 million Filipinos surviving on incomes below US$1.25 per day and some seven million living on less than US$0.50 per day, poverty is a daily hardship and enduring misery for those in the Philippines at the bottom of the economic ladder. On October 17, 2016, the United Nations will lead the world in marking the International...

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...