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.
Students Stepping Up: Pope John XXIII Regional High School Pledges US$5,000
The ICM Choir’s last performance of the 2011 USA Tour was held at Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta, New Jersey. The Choir’s multimedia performance shared how the children’s individual stories of abandonment, hunger, disease, and displacement have been transformed by the hope of a better future. As they sang their stories, they represented all children throughout the world living in adversity. Their music testified to the power that hope can bring. The students and staff at Pope John XXIII Regional High School responded with extreme generosity, pledging US$5,000 to help change more lives in the Philippines. Their warm welcome to the USA was a very powerful experience for the Choir Kids.
Thank you, Pope John XXIII Regional High School, for walking beside us in the flight against poverty.
The event even received local press coverage! To read the published article CLICK HERE.
Photo by Heather Elliott, ICM Media Officer
Dreams Came True for the ICM Choir!
Dreams came true for the ICM Children’s Choir this past December. The fourteen kids traveled to the USA to perform at the Washington DC ICM Banquet and at multiple other events and venues in D.C. and New Jersey. The goal was to raise awareness of (and support for) ICM’s Philippine work. They left a powerful impression on everyone who saw them. And they had a blast! Their performance at the Kennedy Center was even streamed live to audiences around the world! To watch the Kennedy Center performance, CLICK HERE! Thanks for making this all possible.
Photos by Heather Elliott, ICM Media Officer
Kids Helping Kids by Donating Shoes
Even though primary education in the Philippines is free, students are required to provide their own shoes, books and uniforms in order to attend school. Without these commodities, children will not be admitted. Families living in extreme poverty cannot afford these things and so their children do not go.
As the teachers and children from the Kennedy School in Hong Kong wrapped up their year, they spent time reflecting on education in developing countries. Kennedy School Primary Year Program Coordinator, Jacqueline Harmer, decided to show the kids how easy it is to make an impact on another child’s life. She organized a shoe drive where the children could drop off their gently used school shoes. The shoes were then counted and sent to ICM to distribute out to their six bases across the Philippines.
In total, Kennedy School collected about 967 pairs of shoes! Thank you Jacqueline Harmer, the Kennedy School students, the Kennedy School teachers, and the Kennedy School parents for your overwhelming generosity.
Bankers on Detention: A Big Success!
Story by Mia Deocadiz, ICM HK Office Intern
At the cozy Classified restaurant in Hong Kong, eight-year-old teacher, David Paul from Bacolod City strutted his stuff. His ‘students’ for the day – a group of 19 sponsored bankers – paid full attention to his every word. The goal for the night was to raise US$100,000 to pay for scholarships for ICM’s 4,245 preschool graduates to attend Philippine public schools for a year.
Along with his two teaching assistants, Deanna Sutherland and Julie Turner, David Paul led the class through a variety of activities including role call, lines and a quiz. David Paul’s students were more than happy to play along and do what their young instructor asked them to.
The biggest crowd pleaser was the quiz about banking quotes. It ended with the young teacher awarding the highest scoring student (Kalpana Desai) with a gold star and the ‘dunce’ of the day (Michael Connell) with a dunce hat. The event ended with the students writing postcards to some of David Paul’s real classmates in the Philippines.
On the whole, the night was filled with a lot of laughter and fun. But the best news of the evening – early results indicate that ‘Bankers on Detention’ will raise over US$200,000! Thank you to the bankers who sat in detention, their sponsors and Macquarie Group Foundation, for supporting the event.
Photos by Merryl Tan, ICM Communications Manager
A Timely Blessing
Union Church in Manila graciously donated individual gifts of 6,000 pesos each to 37 pastors from 5 ICM regions. Story & Photo by Kathleen Hilado, ICM CO, Koronadal
Pastor Laurel Lina Piang of T’boli, South Cotabato is one of the pastors in Koronadal who received a gift of 6,000 pesos. He has been serving as a community pastor for almost 25 years. Pastor Piang felt so blessed because this was the very first time for him to receive such an amount from an unknown patron.
“This is the first time I was given a gift like this. I had no idea why I was called to the ICM office when one of the staff asked if I could drop by. I went there and I was surprised when they handed me a check with my name written on it.”
In 1987, after graduating from a Bible School, he started a pioneer church in his hometown in T’boli. During that time, groups who were radically opposed to Christianity inhabited the area. Amazingly, after facing many challenges, Pastor Piang gained support and commitment from the villagers instead of harm. The church grew in number and is currently serving the whole community. His greatest supporters are his immediate family. Through all the hardships and discouragement of working as a pastor within a slum community, he has never heard his family complain nor fight against his passion to serve Christ. He remembers clearly the times when his family had nothing to eat for dinner. All he could do was pray with them at the dinner table.
Pastor Piang never gave up but continued to obey God and serve him faithfully. Now, he and his family are working with the Manobo Tribe and teaching them basic literacy and numeracy. They are going to build a church there and the amount he received from Union Church will be used to jumpstart this project. To everyone at Union Church, Pastor Piang wanted to say, “Thank you very much for the wonderful surprise! The joy I feel is immeasurable. This amount is truly a blessing and came at just the right time.”
ICM’s 1804 Young Graduates
Throughout the month of March, 1804 proud graduates of ICM’s 80 Learning Centers marched across the stage in their cap and gowns to receive their “diplomas”. The students finished their year of learning with formal graduation celebrations held in each region. Songs were sung, dances danced and poems and verses recited. And family members and friends clapped and cheered. Thank you to all the generous sponsors who made this possible.
University Students Making a Difference
Last year, a group of college students from the University of Virginia in the United States heard about the need for preschool sponsors and decided to take action. They worked together and raised USD$5,000 to sponsor an ICM Preschool. This donation enabled one preschool to open its doors to 25 children in a slum community in Bacolod City. That is 25 changed lives. And the best part is, they got to meet…
Two girls from the group, Corrie & Laura, traveled to the Philippines to visit their preschool. They received a warm welcome and hand made thank you cards, which they brought back to the other UVA students. Today, in Bacolod City, the 25 students from their preschool graduated! And tomorrow, UVA is donating funds from a campus wide fundraiser to ICM. To all the students at the University of Virginia, thank you!
Welcome to the ICM Blog
Mabuhay!
We are happy to report that last year alone, ICM touched the lives of more than 100,000 individuals throughout Central and Southern Philippines. To break it down further, that means:
-13,925 families were trained in the ICM values, healthcare and livelihood curriculum -9,836 patients were seen at ICM medical clinics -1,066 preschool children graduated from ICM Preschools into first grade -70 chronic tuberculosis (TB) patients were nursed back to health at the ICM Residential Care Recovery Shelter -And lastly, 875 patients had medical procedures covered by ICMA special thank you!
To all those who partnered with ICM in order to make this happen, we wanted to extend a special thank you on behalf of all the ICM recipients! Please enjoy the Thank You Video below. We also want to invite you, along with your friends, family and co-workers, to join us this year, here on our new blog, as we share stories about our programs, our recipients and all upcoming ICM Events.
