PIP: In the Philippines, the Apelo Women's Health Association (AWHA) was organized in 1991 to help economically depressed women take control of their lives, their health, and their fertility. One woman being helped by AWHA is 17-year-old Vilma, who was married and separated at 13, became a bar girl at 14, miscarried at 15, bore a son at 16, and had an abortion. Because of AWHA, Vilma is now using oral contraceptives and insisting that her customers use condoms. AWHA was set up by GABRIELA (the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action) to replace the free, occasional medical care formerly available in the slum area of Apelo Cruz, in Pasay City. The free medical care fostered dependency instead of self-reliance among the women. AWHA, therefore, is a health cooperative which requires members to pay a minimal amount for services. AWHA also runs monthly educational activities to inform women of their rights, duties, and responsibilities. It provides a forum for the women in the neighborhood to speak their minds freely. The women are also grateful for the ability to control their fertility through the use of contraception.