Celebrating Education with Real LIFE
We are happy to announce that ICM’s first kindergarten students have crossed the outstanding milestone of graduating from grade 6! ICM began operating kindergartens in 2006 and now, seven years later, ten tenacious young people have received their elementary school diplomas, many graduating with honors! In the last seven years, ICM’s Jumpstart Kindergartens and subsequent Elementary Scholarship Program has grown from a small handful of students to nearly 5,000 children marching toward academic success.
The Asian Development Bank’s 2005-6 analysis of poverty in the Philippines found that for every 100 children in the Philippines who start grade 1, only 67 finish elementary school. Among the poorest in the country the number falls to 34 who complete elementary school out of every 100 who start grade 1. There is a strong relationship between educational attainment and poverty. With each additional level of schooling reached, the poverty incidence falls. Prioritizing quality elementary education and keeping poor children in school is one way ICM is fighting the strongholds of poverty.
Minori Nagatomo, ICM’s Joint National Director of Education, recently visited Mindanao to meet these students in person. She shared this joyous graduation news with Lynn Nawata, the Executive Director of the non-profit, Real LIFE Foundation. Real LIFE provides high school and college scholarships to underprivileged Filipinos. They immediately saw how ICM’s Kindergarten & Elementary Scholar Program could feed into Real LIFE’s secondary school system and traveled to a remote part of Mindanao to see both programs in action and to explore the possibility of partnership.
- Lynn and Minori with ICM Scholars
UPCOMING ICM EVENT IN HK: Bankers & Lawyers on Detention 2012
On May 4th, 2012, bankers & lawyers will be pitted against each other (Bankers v. Lawyers) in a Quiz Game covering a variety of topics including Philippines trivia. However, the “catch” is that the losing side has to “sit in detention” in front of their friends and family while Irish, a young recipient of ICM’s Scholar program, gives the detainees a brief lesson about the Philippines… dunce caps may be part of the losing team’s attire as well!! Of course this is all in good fun and for a very worthy cause! Enjoy the event’s promo video below!
For more information or to sign up, CLICK HERE!
Photos from last year’s 2011 event:
Kids Camp 2012
“I traveled from an earthquake affected area in Ayungon,” said Christy. “It took 4 hours to arrive here.” Christy was one of 134 kids who attended Kids Camp 2012 which was offered to kids from the communities that were severely affected by the two major natural disasters that hit Dumaguete this year. A few children traveled as far as 60 miles to get there!
The kids were divided into “families” led by parents from HK, Australia and the UK, who gave up their holidays to participate. For four action packed days the teams enjoyed sports, games, crafts and Bible lessons while competing for first place by singing their team chants. Christy was on the Purple Pandas Team and told us, “My favorite thing to do at camp was sports games!” It was a fun filled week for all!
Please enjoy our Kids Camp Recap Video below!
Celebrating 20 Years of Help, Hope & Change
A jubilant crowd laughed and cried through the ICM 20th Anniversary Celebration evening as we shared 20 powerful stories of lives that have been dramatically changed over the last 20 years of ICM’s operations. One of the highlights of the night was the surprise guest appearance by “Philippine Idol” winner, Jude Matthew Servilla, a previous ICM feeding recipient with an amazing voice.
Susan Entong, an ICM recipient who spoke at our 2008 banquet, also shared her story of forgiveness and hope. Susan endured horrible burns on her face and body when her father threw a kerosene lamp at her. After numerous reconstructive surgeries provide by ICM, Susan now lives at ICM’s Excel House and is a star student in public school. She plans to be a social worker when she grows up and is well on her way to fulfilling that dream. Her extraordinarily optimistic view of life left an indelible mark on many of us.
It truly was a night full of celebration! For those of you who were not able to attend, please enjoy these photos and this short video reflecting on ICM’s amazing 20 year history:
Medical Outreach in Devastated Areas
ICM staff in Dumaguete, led by Area Head Pastor Sam Templado, joined local doctors, dentists, pastors, and even the Filipino military to provide medical aid, dispense medicine, offer counseling and even provide free haircuts! to thousands of those traumatized by devastation of Tropical Storm Washi and the earthquake following quickly on its heels one month later. Thank you to the World Relief Committee of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Texas and the many others whose donations made this possible.
Update: Life After Storm Washi
In the three months since Tropical Storm Washi hit the Philippines, ICM has been touched by your outpouring of gifts, donations and prayers for those affected. Because the poor are always the most vulnerable during disasters, ICM had to respond quickly to the needs of Washi’s victims. Due to your generosity, within a week ICM was able to mobilize people and resources to provide life-saving packages of rice, canned food, bottled water and other necessities. Thank you for making this possible.
ICM’s Communications Officer in Dumaguete, Gerard Adiong, turned in the following account of one of the families hardest hit by the storm:
Tropical Storm Washi (or Sendong, as it is know locally) was the world’s deadliest storm in 2011. The typhoon and the resulting flash floods killed over a thousand people, destroyed countless homes and left survivors in desperate need. ICM recipients Joseph and Virna Cadalin and their six kids lived in one of the disaster areas. Their seven-year old son and six-year old daughter are ICM Elementary Scholars.
Typhoon Sendong hit the province at dawn and the household of Joseph and Virna Cadalin was caught unaware. Joseph was changing the baby’s diaper when the creek near their house suddenly rose. Joseph and Virna each grabbed two of the younger children and quickly sought shelter on higher ground, yelling for their two older children to follow. Thirteen year-old Evangeline ran to the pig pen and twelve-year old Ray ran back inside the house. As Joseph and Virna and the four children they carried reached safety, they looked back and could only helplessly watch as the floodwaters rose, sweeping away the house and their other two children.
Upon hearing of the Cadalin family’s loss, Pastors Noli Gallego and Samuel Templado, ICM Dumaguete’s Area Head, went to visit the grieving family. ICM Dumaguete came alongside the family to provide emotional and spiritual support, as well as financial assistance for the burial of Ray and Evangeline and for building materials for a new home. Joseph used the assistance to build a small cottage several meters from where their house once stood. The Cadalin Family expressed their deep thanks to ICM staff for help and support in their time of greatest need.
Lilian Bardinas, ICM’s Strategic Department Head in Dumaguete, was one of those who was also deeply affected by the storm. Back in January, we shared Lilian’s story about her wedding day, which proceeded in spite of the storm washing away her home. Instead of a honeymoon, she spend the days after her wedding digging out what belongings she could find. Lilian and Eduardo’s story was covered internationally by CNN. (CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO SPOTLIGHT)
Here’s an update from Lilian:
“Many people ask me, ‘Why did you continue with the wedding?’ I tell them, ‘There’s no reason not to continue the wedding because God preserved the two of us even though the strong typhoon washed away all our earthly possessions and our house. The loss of all our material things will never be the reason to stop life. We have each other to share and to love. There is still hope, there is a reason to celebrate, there are still many good things that are yet to come…”
Not long after the storm, Lillian was interviewed on a local television show. During the interview Lilian and Eduardo explained that it is not only material things that count in life but really that what matters most is our relationship with God. At the end of the interview, Lilian and Eduardo were surprised with a 4-day honeymoon vacation in Boracay, a highly popular vacation spot in the Philippines!
We thank the Cadalin Family and Lilian & Eduardo for sharing their stories with us. They represent two out of thousands of families affected by the storm.
Empty Lot Transformed into Productive Garden
Ireneo Polison Jr. lives with his wife and three kids in a wooden house surrounded by coconut trees. Although he has suffered for years from rheumatoid arthritis, it did not stop him from working hard for his family as a part-time tailor, earning approximately Php500 (US$11.64) per week.
Determined to earn more income, Ireneo accepted an invitation to join the Transform Program through a local church in Bohol. In the program, Ireneo gained additional knowledge about how to develop a productive organic vegetable garden planting vegetables such as bokchoi, eggplant and squash.
In about two months, his empty lot was converted into a productive garden and Ireneo is now reaping the fruits of his labor! Instead of canned goods, Ireneo’s family now eats fresh vegetables everyday and he has notices improvements in his own physical condition. Ireneo is planning to expand his garden in order to plant more vegetables, sell the harvest to the community, and earn extra income for their family.
Earthquake rocks Central Visayas
Dear ICM Friends,
Sorry to say that another natural disaster has struck the Philippines and this one also hit ICM’s target provinces. You may have heard in the news that a 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook the central island provinces of the Philippines yesterday morning, triggering landslides. There have been hundreds of aftershocks. At least 43 bodies have already been recovered.
The earthquake was felt throughout many of the ICM target areas, including the areas around Bacolod, Dumaguete and Bohol and many of you have asked about the safety of our staff and programs. The experience was stressful for millions of people on these islands. People evacuated after tsunami warnings were issued. The aftershocks continued for more than a day, and people worried that buildings could collapse at any minute. But we are pleased to tell you that ICM’s staff, project partners and community recipients are safe. It appears that the most serious damage was confined to a few mountain towns. ICM works in thousands of communities, so we are still gathering responses from our communities. So far we have confirmed that church buildings in four of our partner communities were destroyed. And we will be working to help these communities. We feel grateful that most of our communities avoided the most serious damage in this round.
Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers for the poor in our areas. They are grateful for you too.
Dave Sutherland, ICM Chairman
Kennedy School Diaries: Pam Riordan
Pam Riordan is a teacher from HK’s Kennedy School. She recently joined a group of parents and kids on an ICM vision trip to Bacolod, where she participated in building homes for slum residents.
“I didn’t know what to expect but was extremely excited. On day one of visiting the slum, I realized exactly how little these gorgeous people have. I hoped that I would be able to help them, even if only a tiny amount. We cleared rubbish from the site, dug and laid the foundations of the houses, mixed cement, played and chatted with the children in the community, visited the preschool and taught a craft lesson. Visiting the simple family homes of the school children was totally an amazing experience – they all touched my heart and I found it very difficult to wave goodbye as we left the slum on the last day. To see the children with no shoes on, carrying buckets of water and cement, and helping to build the next house in the community was a leaky eye moment for sure. The glimmer of hope and the smiles on these children’s faces totally puts a busy Hong Kong life into perspective.
Pam with the children from the slum community where she built.
“I’ve traveled quite extensively and am not oblivious to communities like these – but to work with a group like ICM who are clearly making a difference to the lives of the poor people in the Philippines was a fulfilling experience that I hope to be a part of again and again in the future. I am already planning my next trip to help with teacher training in the summer and I hope to combine this with shoveling some more cement and helping to build the next house too. Best I crack on with keeping fit – but who would have thought mixing sand, cement, water and gravel could be so satisfying!
Thanks all at ICM who made this trip so fab! Hats off to you all and I look forward to seeing you all again soon!” - Pam Riordan
Hong Kong’s Kennedy School is a long-time supporter of ICM. Students, parents and teachers have partnered with ICM to build houses in the slums, donate school supplies and hundreds of shoes to ICM’s Jumpstart kindergarten students and to host the ICM Choir at their school in Hong Kong. Thank you for your encouragement and support.
Milestone for Red Rope: They’ve become an independent cooperative!
It looked just like any other Christmas Party in the Philippines – women and children playing games, eating sweets and singing songs. But for the women of Red Rope, this was a very meaningful party. This was the first Christmas Party they had ever thrown at their own expense! And second, this month Red Rope was certified by the Philippine government as an independent cooperative!
Red Rope is a handicraft livelihood initiative of ICM. It started in 2006 when ICM-HK hoped to auction a handmade quilt at the 2nd HK ICM Banquet. Twelve ICM recipients, formerly from the Precious Women Ministry (for women leaving prostitution), were commissioned to hand-sew the quilt. It was beautiful and sold for HK$70,000 at the auction!
Now, 6 years later, Red Rope has become a self-supporting livelihood for 22 women, all of whom have been participants in an ICM program. Red Rope’s number one client is ICM, making all ICM’s Jumpstart school uniforms, ICM Teddy Bears and table prizes offered at ICM banquets. Red Rope items are also sold at fairs in Hong Kong and offered for sale by ICM partner NGOs at venues in the USA.
ICM COO, Helen Turner, who was a guest at the Red Rope Christmas party, says, “What an honor it was to be invited. The ladies beamed as they welcomed guests, even paying the taxi fares of those that arrived — for the first time able to give and not just receive. It was a joy to celebrate with them!”
Photos by Heather Elliott, ICM Media Officer
