Kim Abels serves in the Philippines as an elementary teacher at Project Pag-asa, where she has taught since 2015. Project Pag-asa (Tagalog for hope) serves young Filipino orphans and survivors of abuse and neglect by providing trauma-sensitive, age-appropriate education in a safe, bilingual setting with aim to restore potential and break cycles of abuse and poverty. She originally came to the Philippines in 2002 to teach at Faith Academy, an international school primarily serving the children of missionaries in southeast Asia. Kim is originally from Chicago in the US and has three children. When not teaching, Kim loves to read and crochet, though scuba diving with her kids is a top favorite activity.