Category: Recipient Stories

  Merlie, a Transform participant from Zamboanga del Norte in Mindanao, believed that education was the best way she could leave a mark, so she dreamed of becoming a teacher. She eventually completed her teaching degree and felt proud of her achievements. “No one in school knew me until I graduated and was able to...

To say that life is challenging for Melina and her family would be an understatement. When she joined Transform, she made sure she graduated and got her certificate, despite all the challenges that she had to go through.    Melina lived in a house made of bamboo, scrap materials, and old G.I. sheets with her...

Building one’s savings needs consistency, but for ultra-poor families, it is difficult to even start saving with limited financial resources directed to their most basic needs. Ultra-poverty makes it impossible to spare an amount large enough to invest in a business, purchase materials for home improvement, or spend on things that would increase quality of...

For 53-year-old Diomedes, life has been one challenge after another. Born into a poor family, he had to drop out of school at a very young age to earn a living. When he started a family, his first son was born with special needs. In 2010, a live wire electrocuted him left him experiencing shortness...

According to a Philippine National Demographic and Health survey, one in four Filipino women aged 15 to 49 has experienced domestic abuse. Poverty seems to be a factor  with women from low-income households suffering even more than other groups; some of these women have even had their lives threatened.  Erlinda, a Transform participant from Tacloban,...

Growing up with a physically abusive father who’s now serving time in jail, 5-year-old Ella Mae has found refuge in her mother who cares deeply for her. Ella Mae lives in a bamboo house near the river with her mother and her three older siblings where access to education is hard. After two years into...

Do you believe that miracles can still happen today? Whether you do or not, it would be hard to deny that Maricel’s and her family’s story is nothing short of extraordinary. A dark night Although it has already been months since Typhoon Odette carved a path of destruction through several provinces in Central Visayas and...

It was like a scene from a movie. Only four days earlier, Jocel’s husband died of a heart attack. His body lay in a coffin at her mother-in-law’s house surrounded by five young children mourning the death of their father. It was going to be Christmas in a few days. That evening, Typhoon Odette made...

Whenever a super typhoon hits the Philippines, the whole country comes together to help the stricken provinces. We send relief goods, clothes, water, and supplies. However, it takes more than relief supplies to recover from the devastation of a natural disaster, and it survivors need time to rebuild, to heal, and to recover. This is...

Fathers are a rarity among our Transform participants where 88% of our participants are mothers. So when a father does join the trainings, he is an immediate standout in their batch. Regie, a father of two from Ayungon, Negros Oriental, is one of the fathers who joined Transform and successfully completed all 15 weeks of...