Category: Women

Sustaining health, sustaining hope

CJ’s family cramps up in a worn-out house ravaged by Typhoon Odette in 2021. His father, Carmelo, faces immense challenges in providing for their family of six, as his income from fishing is not enough. With meager resources, CJ’s mother, Bernalyn, did her best to sustain her children’s health. But the lack of money prevented...

A mother’s sustainable future

Erlinda was left to raise her two children on her own when her husband died more than 10 years ago. They barely survived by reselling dried fish and other goods and snacks from their town market to their community. “I always ran out of budget for capital, and even a single peso was hard to...

Turning Life Around

Before the program, her life was mired in poverty, shame, and jealousy. To support her family, she works as hired help that includes cleaning, cooking, and laundry. Afraid to lose these opportunities, she’d head out immediately, which caused suspicion and jealousy on her husband Leonardo. In one of his jealous rants, Leonardo caused a scene...

A Transformed Mother Is a Transformed Family

Duweta felt desperate, not knowing how she could help supply the needs of her family. “I easily get discouraged every time we don’t have money to buy food,” she recalls. Every day, she sees her husband and son breaking their backs so they can put food on the table. Duweta wanted to do more despite...
Ready to start anew

Ready to Start Anew

It took Edna 17 years, and ICM’s Recover program to finally find healing. Now, she’s ready to start anew. Edna participated in a six-week program offered for Typhoon Odette victims back in 2021. Together with other victims, she learned not only to process the emotional and psychological trauma, but also to equip herself with the...

Pain and Loss Turned into Hope

Madina’s life in Uganda had been characterized by struggle, loss, and pain for many years. She became an orphan at a very young age. Her relatives denied her a chance at education. When she got married, her husband died at an early age, leaving her as the breadwinner of her family. When she joined ICM’s...
Transform participant holding a frame of her graduation picture

Celebrating Everyday Women Making Extraordinary Impact

Happy International Women’s Day! Today, we celebrate women making extraordinary impact by standing up to say, “I can be better. I will not remain in poverty!” Though she had lived in ultra-poverty all her life, Hazel was determined to succeed against all odds. At 33, and with four children, her journey with International Care Ministries...

A Long Road Ahead

  Do poverty alleviation programs work in the long run? Evangeline’s story shows that they’re a good start  The journey out of poverty is never a straight path. But it starts, as most journeys do, with the belief that the end is achievable, a firm decision to go, followed by one step after another. For...
coping with depression - woman inside her house

Coping with Depression and Learning to Recover

At 30 years old, Jill has already lost four children. Three of them died all at once in a river accident, while the other one died in her womb after being tangled and choked with the umbilical cord. In the midst of all the unfortunate circumstances, Jill found that learning to recover from her losses...

Dreams Lost and Dreams Found

  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...