Tag: Transform

Uganda Women

A Woman Called Samosa

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...

From Trouble Maker to Livelihood Trainer

In the fight against poverty, we are thankful for our local staff here in the Philippines. They are the ones at the frontlines, doing what it takes to reach communities in need. Most of them know first-hand the struggles our participants face. In fact, Jason of our General Santos base was even a participant in...
tubes of toothpaste

400,000 tubes of toothpaste donations from SWISS through The Amber Foundation

While these are common necessities to most, tubes of toothpaste can sometimes be scarce in households where the ultra-poor live. To help them develop healthy habits, part of ICM’s Transform program educates participants about proper hygiene. Since 1992, ICM has been in the business of transforming lives from a physical, social, and spiritual standpoint. Indeed,...

Mother Empowerment

Here in ICM, we have found that one of the best ways to promote economic growth among the poor is to empower women for greater productivity. In fact, 88% of our Transform participants are women. So it’s no coincidence that most of the stories that we have featured in our newsletters and social media are...

The Power of VHL

“Every day is not a harvest day. Where could I get financial help to meet our daily needs?” This is a question that Criselda asked when she looked at her family and the growing needs. The weight of her family fell upon her shoulders when her husband suddenly passed away from heatstroke during a harvest...

And Livelihood Is…

…how you make a living! And that’s not easy! Most ultrapoor families struggle with even keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Things like buying medicine, sending children to school and paying for electricity are difficult, if not impossible. In Transform’s Livelihood lessons, trainers teach the participants how to bring in...

Unceasing Hope

Widowed and living with her two children and three grandchildren, Dolores had every excuse to lose hope. Only she and her son had jobs, and even with their combined income, they only had PHP19 (USD 0.40) a day per person to cover their daily expenses. But instead of faltering, she persevered and now her story...

Three Years Later

How much difference can four months really make? Transform, our core program which delivers lessons on values, health livelihood, lasts for four months. A significant number of our stories show the transformation that happens at the end of the program. Businesses started, relationships restored, health regained. But what about when the four months is over?...

Back Into Action

Like many young men, 22-year-old Joey loves hanging out with his friends when not studying or working. But unlike his buddies, he couldn’t always work as much as he wanted. Since 2012, he suffered from a tumor under his ear that would swell and cause him throbbing pain any time he was too active or...

Bearing All Things

Melmar took a huge leap for love when she married Clino and moved away to Zamboanga more than thousand kilometers away from her hometown in Bicol. She had met her husband while working in Manila, fallen in love, married and eventually moved to Clino’s hometown. But the storybook ending started to unravel when the couple’s...