Category: Staff Stories

When Pastor Noe Cordova partnered with ICM to open a Jumpstart Kindergarten in his community, he was giving 30-40 ultrapoor children the opportunity to gain an education. What he didn’t expect was how well the entire community would grasp new opportunities through the program to learn, grow and gain new skills. ICM’s four month Transform...

by Louise Joachimowski, Creative Resources Officer Spending a month working in the Philippines always has its ups and downs. There’s been tropical storms, ferry cancellations, lack of internet and extremely bumpy car rides getting lost in remote villages! But through the challenges, the thing that makes it all worth it are the people we meet....

Story by Minierva Lahaylahay, ICM Bohol Area Head  &  Zosima Torrejas,  ICM Bohol Education Leader  //  Written by Minori Nagatomo, ICM Director of Education This month, 95 ICM Kindergartens began their school year – that is 5 more ICM Kindergartens than last year! We are seeing tremendous growth in this program, both in the number of students reached...

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...

Reflections from Erin Manfredi, ICM’s Communications Manager – Trip to Panay After days of tense waiting, relief goods made their way to remote villages and into the eager arms of devastated and displaced survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. Located in the Western Visayas region, the Island of Panay was struck particularly hard by the typhoon.  ICM recently...

It’s hard to imagine how many families are able to survive after Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippines. 12 million have been affected, millions are without homes, electricity and basic necessities, and they need our help. Punta Buri is a tiny remote island, a one-hour boat ride from the main island of Panay in Central...

In the days since the Philippines was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, ICM has risen to respond to the needs of the victims. With three out of eight ICM regions part of the affected zones, we have been able to deliver immediate aid to the needy, and are beginning to implement longer-term strategies that will help...

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...

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippines on Tuesday morning severely devastated the Island of Bohol, where one of our ICM Bases is located.  The ICM staff were at home enjoying their public holiday when the earthquake struck.  The ICM Bohol Base employs 54 staff who work with over 600 partner pastors, but with the majority of...

Story by Helen Turner, ICM Co-CEO Early on a Thursday morning in February we set out, off the coast of El Nido heading up to one of the remotest island locations in the Philippines, the Island of Cagbuli. Twenty-five visitors in El Nido on “Vacation With a Purpose” had chosen to take the two and half hour boat ride...