International Care Ministries
| Formation | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Transforming the Futures of the Ultrapoor |
| Website | https://www.caremin.com/ |
International Care Ministries, otherwise known as ICM, is a faith-driven non-profit organization striving to reduce and ultimately put an end to ultra-poverty in the Philippines. ICM is focused on helping Filipinos who live on less than USD$0.50 per day[1], specifically in the nine areas of Palawan, Panay, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Bohol, Zamboanga Del Norte, Koronadal and General Santos.
ICM’s vision is to see ultra-poor families released from physical, emotional and spiritual bondage[2]; thus, the organization serves to deliver the right support, right training and right resources to unlock the bondages of poverty. This mission is accomplished by minimizing costs while maximizing impact through various programs and relevant analyses. ICM also offers opportunities for volunteers to get involved and visit their nine bases.
Introduction
Founded in 1992 by a group of pastors, ICM first began its ministry by providing food and medication to about 200 children in the city of Bacolod, Philippines. As it continued to grow and expand into other provinces, the new organization received strategic direction and funding through Sharon Tan who helped mobilize support from Hong Kong[3]. By 1993, ICM launched a rice and beans distribution program in order to better serve families, and developed other health and livelihood initiatives, such as mobile medical clinics to treat special medical cases and a residential center for Tuberculosis patients. ICM serves to empower pastors to step up in local leadership and to effectively reach out to their own communities. To this day, several founding pastors are still a part of the local leadership, and ICM continues to employ Filipinos who have reached over one million of the ultra-poor with holistic transformation.
Structure
ICM is governed by an International Board of Directors, and is led by David Sutherland as the Chair of the Board[4][5]. Both offices in Manila and in Hong Kong are managed cooperatively; the Manila Management is directly responsible for working with the nine bases.
ICM partners with several other organizations in order to properly provide basic needs such as foods and/or medication[6]; these other organizations include Convoy of Hope, Feed My Starving Children, Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp., Soap Cycling and Cure[7]. ICM is also a member of the following organizations: Associations of Foundations, Zero Extreme Poverty Movement, International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development, Joint Learning Initiative. These relations are essential to ICM's ministry, all working towards the same goal of putting an end to poverty.
Annual reports are shared with the public in order to demonstrate the impacts that have been made[8].
Programs
THRIVE[9]
Through the thrive program, ICM works with local Filipino pastors who are already serving the ultra-poor, supporting them through mentoring, accountability, Bible study, prayer, as well as leadership and church management trainings. In response to the requests of deeper ministry training, ICM launched the Second Day Theological Training Project; delivering two-year trainings designed to build up churches in association with six other seminary organizations, including Antioch Institute, Global Church Movements, Development Associates International, Asian Theological Seminary, as well as Systematic Asian Leadership Training. Thrive invites pastors to host Transform in their local church venues, making local church leaders a large part of ICM's distribution strategy[10]. In 2018-2019, there were 9,135 active pastors.
TRANSFORM[11]
Transform is ICM’s core program[12], designed to help ultra-poor families grow in community, with the ultimate aim of making sustainable progress out of poverty. The program starts with a local pastor and six volunteers inviting 30 of the poorest families in the community to join the weekly Transform training classes, which focuses on the four different categories of learning: values, health, livelihood and education. At the end of sixteen weeks, the goal is that the whole community will have deeper relationships, healthier families, greater productivity and opportunity for tomorrow[13]. Between 2009 and 2017, 194,000 of the ultra poor have participated in Transform[14], with participants "experiencing an increase in income[15], reduction in illness and an increase in hope".
Values[16]
ICM characterizes progress out of poverty as a journey that must begin "with the belief that change itself is possible", dedicating much of their efforts to teach hope and other biblically-based ideals that focus on relationships, personal character and decision-making. ICM divides HOPE into the components of Heart, Opportunity, Physical and Education, with the belief that "hope starts with the heart, by fostering positive values; grows with opportunity, by empowering sustainable income; endures in the physical, by promoting healthy living and advances through education, by launching confident learners"[16].
Health[17]
ICM’s curriculum expands awareness of health and hygiene, focusing primarily on wellness, family and sanitation[18]. In addition to raising awareness, nutritional support is provided to all families involved in the Transform program, which helps to create an ongoing and well-balanced feeding at home; these food packs are used to help clinically malnourished[19] children achieve optimum development. Through the Medical Mercy Program, Transform participants are also screened for sicknesses right from the start; in addition, beneficiaries and family members in need of critical medical care are also able to receive treatment and follow-up.
Livelihood[20]
ICM's livelihood curriculum works to provide the training, resources and support needed for the ultra-poor to have a sustainable income[21]. Transform's livelihood lessons emphasize small business skills, livelihood options, and savings groups[1]. In order to break the cycle of unsustainable income, ICM helps mothers provide for their children by demonstrating the importance of accountability. The program gives these women a chance to practice what they have learned by joining a savings group, where individual savings are pooled into a common fund used to provide loans for business ventures on top of basic needs.[22]
Education[23]
Education in the Philippines is compulsory from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Having little academic help at home, ICM helps to facilitate early childhood education through Family Academy (ICM’s education training) by applying a "two-generational approach". ICM trainers will regularly visit homes and encourage parents to be their children’s first teachers; aiming to empower parents to actively engage in their children’s education, and equip children with the confidence needed to be emotionally and academically ready to thrive in public schools[24].
PREVAIL
ICM launched Prevail Savings Network, which works to empower the newly formed saving groups with monthly Prevail meetings that supports the ongoing development of both previous and current Transform participants. In 2018-2019 alone, there were a total of 56,974 members, with 2,074 savings groups and an average of US$281 savings per group.
Research
ICM rigorously keeps track of its impact on the Philippines through strict evaluations. Over the years, ICM has culminated one of the most comprehensive church community databases in the Philippines. Today, this data is stored online through Project Tomorrow, which offers real time access to operations running on the ground nationwide. Using this data, ICM partners with Innovations for Poverty Action to conduct tests and measurements; ICM’s first Randomized Controlled Trial has validated statistically significant positive impacts from Transform (p<0.01). ICM partners with many academic institutions for research, such as, Yale University, Princeton University, London School of Economics, The University of Toronto, The University of Hong Kong, etc[24].
In 2018, a study "Randomizing Religion: The Impact of Protestant Evangelism on Economic Outcomes" was conducted by economists Gharad T. Bryan, James J. Choi and Dean Karlan[14]. They partnered with ICM "to conduct an evaluation that randomly assigned invitations to attend Christian theology and values training", as "ICM is representative of an important sector that attempts to generate religiosity while alleviating poverty"[14]. The study was published in The Economist and were referenced in a New York Times op-ed.
Annual Banquet
Every year, ICM holds an Annual Banquet in Hong Kong, in order to raise awareness, share updates, as well as fundraise for future endeavors[25]. In 2018, ICM managed to successfully raise more than USD$2 million[26].
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Life on HK$4 a day an eye-opener for Hong Kong students in Philippines". South China Morning Post. 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ↑ "ICM Partners with Churches to Help Bring Family Planning to Families in Need". CCIH. 2019-11-25. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ↑ "About ICM". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ caremin (2012-03-08), ICM History, retrieved 2019-08-09
- ↑ "Sutherland's passion – to solve the problem of poverty". South China Morning Post. Invalid date. Retrieved 2019-08-09. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "About ICM". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ International, CURE. "CURE Philippines". CURE. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "About ICM". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "Thrive". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ Kraft, Kathryn; Wilkinson, Olivia J. (2020). International Development and Local Faith Actors: Ideological and Cultural Encounters. Routledge. Search this book on
- ↑ "Our Work". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "Is the Protestant Work Ethic Real? (Ep. 360) - Freakonomics Freakonomics". freakonomics.com. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ↑ caremin (2016-04-26), TRANSFORMED by HOPE, retrieved 2019-08-09
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Bryan, Gharad T.; Choi, James J.; Karlan, Dean (February 2018). "RANDOMIZING RELIGION: THE IMPACT OF PROTESTANT EVANGELISM ON ECONOMIC OUTCOMES" (PDF). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Leonhardt, David (February 28, 2018). "The Power of Religion". New York Times. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Values". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "Health". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ Lau, Lincoln Leehang; Hung, Natalee; Go, Daryn Joy; Ferma, Jansel; Choi, Mia; Dodd, Warren; Wei, Xiaolin (June 11, 2020). "Knowledge, attitudes and practices of COVID-19 among income-poor households in the Philippines: A cross-sectional study". Journal of Global Health. 10 (1): 011007. doi:10.7189/jogh.10.011007. PMC 7294392 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32566169 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Lau, Lincoln L. H.; Gill, Melinda A.; Cole, Donald C.; Pelletier, Marsha (2015). "A Comparison of Site-Based versus Home-Based Child Malnutrition Treatment Programs". Semantic Scholar. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ "Livelihood". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "Protestantism might be good for the wallet, after all". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ↑ Lim, Krisha; Lau, Lincoln L. H.; Cole, Donald (2017). "Differential Impact of a Poverty Alleviation Program Targeting the Ultrapoor in the Philippines". Semantic Scholar. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Education". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Our Research". International Care Ministries. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "An auction that raises hope — and nearly a hundred million pesos". philstar.com. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
- ↑ "HK's ICM raises US$2 million for the Philippines' poorest". Retrieved 2019-08-09.
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