Dengue claimed her only daughter’s life. Now this mother is on a mission to prevent the same fate from happening to others. The pain doesn’t go away. It takes courage to keep replaying the anguished final days of her daughter, who would have turned 22 in May. But it is exactly this sorrow that makes her more resolute to prevent more loss of lives. No one has to die from Dengue. It can be prevented.
"I lost Sandy to Dengue in 2013. She was only 10 years old. All it took was one deadly Dengue mosquito bite,” says Ma. Louella (Peaches) Martinez-Aranas. “You think there’s a one in a million chance of getting bitten by a tiny mosquito. But that’s not true. Anybody can be infected with Dengue fever. Mosquitoes don’t choose their prey. They just bite.”
She founded The Sandy Project, a Dengue awareness and prevention initiative. Dengue is endemic in the Philippines, where 95,000 Dengue cases have been recorded at the beginning of 2025. From January to May 2025 alone, 189 deaths were reported. There’s no known treatment for Dengue.
“Grief is love’s unwillingness to let go.”
- Edwin O’Connor -
Jason Wong: A Father’s Heart
Dads are the silent guardians. They hide their true feelings and mostly stay in the background as they watch their children grow. Jason Wong is an exception. His story is one of the rare pieces we’ve come across that’s too good not to share. "When a father is present for his children when they are young, they are likely to be there for him when he is old,” writes Jason.The Dads for Life movement founder’s greatest passion is to see family restored through turning the heart of every father back to his children, and for every child to have a good father-figure in their life.
Jeanne Goulbourn: Hope and Healing
Nothing could be worse to a parent than losing a child to suicide due to depression. Jean Goulbourn lost her daughter Natasha, who was in her 20s, to depression. “The tragedy of losing a child to suicide is not the same grief that one feels when losing a child to an illness. It makes you feel rejected. You feel you’ve been a failure as a mother. You feel abandoned. You feel unloved,” says Jean Goulbourn, renowned Filipina fashion designer, after losing her daughter Natasha, who was in her 20s.
Nothing touches the human heart more than a compelling story that sparks hope, encouragement and good vibes. Many resonate with us. Others nudge us to take action. Some urge us to pause and ponder. A few restore our faith in humanity.
Weekly Sparks’ pursuit of enriching stories connects us to diverse communities of awe-inspiring individuals who open their hearts (some reluctantly) hoping that in sharing their struggles, pain and, eventually, triumphs someone out there can find the courage to pursue his/her aspirations.
We find such kinship with Women of the World. They are dreamers and believers. Their collective narrative of pushing boundaries and overcoming limitations is proof that anything is possible if we walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous and the doers. May their daring spirit ignite a fire within you.
Our Story is really about their stories. They reflect who we are at a deeper level, beyond roles and goals.