Category: Women

Unemployed, with children to care for, Cleta believed that Transform could change her life. From the first lesson, she saw the benefits that the useful and practical lessons brought to her family. Soon after the Transform program began,  Cleta was in a motorcycle accident and badly injured her foot. Despite her pain, she still attended lessons....

Florlyn Reyes relied on her husband, a tricycle driver who earns around US$3.21 (PHP150) a day, to provide for the family. His income was not sufficient to meet the needs of their family of five, which created tension, arguments and resentment between the couple. When Florlyn heard about ICM’s Transform program, she was excited and...

Four-year-old Gebalyn was sent home from school because of the open sores on her head. Gebalyn’s mother, Maria Theresa was worried. The wounds grew and began bleeding. Gebalyn was in near constant pain and crying. Her appetite left her and she grew weak.  There wasn’t enough money to see a doctor, but the day Gebalyn...

Last March, after completing ICM’s Transform program, 14 ladies formed the Tubtubon Savings Group. Initially, the ladies each contributed 20 pesos per week.  After two months they had enough money to purchase the item they chose to sell – detergent. Each member of the Savings Group took turns selling the detergent. Although they were able...

Poverty is a far deeper issue than a lack of physical necessities. It is the profound sense of perceived helplessness in the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual relationship a person has with their environment. For this reason, truly helping someone out of poverty means changing the way they see themselves and the world around them....

Two women share how ICM’s Savings Group changed their lives and finances. ELENA Elena, 65, lives in a wooden house on stilts by a mangrove field with her granddaughter Rhealyn, who suffers from an undiagnosed chronic health condition. At 14-years-old, Rhealyn cannot speak and can barely stand by herself. The area around their house is...

Despite living in a small bamboo shack with no electricity or bathroom, Grace, 37, looks forward to the future. She has just completed ICM’s Transform program, where she learned how to use resources that are close at hand to feed and take care of her family. One of these resources is her humble garden. Okra...

Meriam, 23, is married to Volter, a passenger motorbike driver. Meriam stays at home and looks after the couple’s two young daughters, Angel and Stephany, while Volter works hard to provide for his family. However the irregular income of a driver is barely enough for them to survive. They live in a coastal village with...

  Thanks to ICM’s Transform program, Abad Maria and Pejana’s green thumbs are helping to feed their families. ABAD MARIA Fourteen years ago, Abad Maria took her three children and left her alcoholic husband. Now 47 years old, Abad lives with her children, one son-in-law and her three-year-old grandson in a small house built of...

By Hannah Saad, ICM Assistant Trips Officer It has always amazed me when I see or hear about a close mother and a daughter relationship, since I grew up not experiencing one. I’m Hannah and for the past 18 months I have worked as an Assistant Trips Officer in International Care Ministries (ICM) in my...