Category: Women

Rising from the Ashes – Cristine and Raffy

When a fire destroyed Cristine’s flimsy house late last year, she was grateful that no one in her family was killed. While Christine, her husband Raffy and their two children were unharmed, they were homeless. Before the fire, life was struggle for the Barbon family. Raffy worked as an occasional farm labourer and earned a...

A Second Chance

Story & Photos by Erin Fry, ICM Communications Manager The excitement in the air was electric as 36 ladies from Barangay Rumbang in Iloilo met together for the first time for week 1 of ICM’s Transform Program.  As the introductory session got underway, the ladies already started to bond.  Their laughter was contagious as they...

A Pastor sees Peace after Transform

Story by Ellie Haldors – Intern, ICM Hong Kong Last week, I took a trip to the Philippines to learn more about the happenings inside of ICM. As I talked to pastors whose communities have gone through ICM Transform programs, I began to realize just how big of an impact ICM is having on these...

Business-In-A-Box: ICM Generating Resilient Livelihoods for the World’s Ultrapoor

Article by Christine Joyce Ajoc, ICM Director of Livelihood The changes in the world’s political and economic systems have resulted in certain imbalances among populations, often leaving those in the developing economies in a position of vulnerability. For the poorest of the poor, this means having to live below subsistence, with little to no resources at...

Planting Beauty in the Brokenness Left By Typhoon Haiyan

Written by Justine Maceross, Communications Officer ICM-Hong Kong On 3 March 2014, ICM staff, along with Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) and several volunteers, loaded a small pump boat with relief packs — each including hygiene kits, clothing and 40 boxes full of FMSC MannaPacks (packages of nutrient-fortified food) — and climbed aboard. We visited communities...

With Your Help, Lolita Starts Again

  If you visit what’s left of the village where Lolita lives, you will find her scrounging through the debris of her former garden, looking for seeds to start again.  The water that swept over her village that fateful day in November washed away her entire life—her home, garden and her small vegetable shop. She...

I DIDN’T HAVE ANY CLOTHES FOR THEM

Although rain from the coming typhoon was keeping the city of Bacolod wet, Roselia made her way to the ICM office anyway.  With two three month old babies in her arms, Roselia’s 13 year old son assisted her in and out of the tricycle. Roselia is the first mother to receive ICMs new treatment package...

Joanne Walks into a Brighter Future after her Battle Against Cancer

Story by Helen Turner, ICM Co-CEO & COO At the recent Doctors fellowship dinner in Dumaguete I was able to catch up with Joanne Dayapdapan who was one of the first special medical case patients I met when I first started working with ICM. In 2009 Joanne was just 16 years old and had been...

Abandoned Girls Blossom into Young Women as they Start College

Judilyn Yangco and Susan Entong grew up in some of the most challenging and heartbreaking circumstances conceivable. Judilyn, abandoned by her parents, was the breadwinner for her three siblings at the age of nine and almost died from TB. Susan’s father, drunk one night, threw a kerosene lamp which burned Susan’s face, arms and neck...

Shopping & Giving All In One

ICM was thrilled to participate in two Christmas Fairs this past weekend at Island ECC & Union Church – offering an array of hand crafted items from our very own Red Rope Project, featuring silk cushion covers, ornate tree ornaments, cards, notebooks and more!  Red Rope is a certified co-op for women in the Philippines who have escaped prostitution and provides...