Category: Women

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...

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...

As we celebrate National Heroes Day, let us meet some of the new heroes of the new normal! During the pandemic, ICM launched the Flourish program that raised Community Health Champions (CHCs) among the Transform participants and we trained them to be their community’s health advocates. This program has been steadily making a difference in...

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...

What would you do if you have been living with a genetic condition that took away your and even your children’s sight, then learned that it could be cured by an eye surgery procedure that you know you couldn’t afford? Would you give up hope? Transform participant Gloria and her children had such a condition...

This International Women’s Day, ICM honors the world’s most nurturing members of society: Women. International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of brave, independent, loving, and amazing ladies. International Care Ministries is a nonprofit empowered by women both in the office and out in the field. As...

Fancy a boat for an everyday ride?   While other people nowadays invest in bikes, motorcycles, and sidecars, former Transform participant Merabel from Bohol chose a boat as her go-to everyday transportation. Thanks to her husband, the 27-year-old housewife learned how to pilot a boat in just two days.  Merabel and her husband sell sea...

Known as the Pearl of Africa, Uganda is a land filled with stunning landscape, rich biodiversity, and serene beauty. However, despite the country’s vast natural wealth, more than half of  Ugandan households still experience poverty in the areas of finances, healthcare, and education. Ugandan women, in particular, experience the harsh effects of being ultra-poor. They...

Many mothers from ultra-poor communities are housewives who are dependent on their husbands’ small incomes. The pandemic, which caused job and income loss, has made their situations even worse. Through ICM’s 2R (Refresh and Renew) program, we were able to help these women through a difficult time.   Catherine, a mother in her early twenties,...

How does someone deal with poverty and cancer during the pandemic? When sickness affects someone who’s living in ultra-poverty, it seems like a no-win situation. But stories like Maria Jery’s inspire us and give us hope.   When Maria Jery joined a savings group through ICM’s Transform program, she learned the habit of saving. However,...