Day 25: Harsh realities, but... hope!

Today I'm going to let my photos do most of the talking. I'm dedicating day 25 to the people of Manila's Payatas Landfill "Scavenger's Colony" as I call it. It's situated right beside a huge city landfill, basically, a giant mountain of trash. Child labor is rampant here, not to mention the extremely hazardous conditions for the adult laborers as well.  

Many of these children, if intervention is not successful, will end up as prostitutes among the estimated 60,000-100,000 child prostitutes in metro Manila. Hard to believe? Well, Manila has a population of over 20 million, poverty is extreme, and organized crime is pervasive. It's sadly the common recipe for such a tragedy.

Trash is everywhere. It's an ecological disaster. Many of the kids have open sores on their skin from exposure to God knows what kinds of chemicals. It's for scenes like these that I abhor plastic bags and try to avoid adding to the demand of such products myself. 

I have to tell you the bad news before you can understand that the good news is... truly good news. So bear with me, I know these are not easy images to digest. 

The good news is, there's hope. In this very colony, we've begun a new "Children's Hope Center" that is offering real hope to these kids. We're providing nutrition, hygiene support, and education opportunities through the provision of school supplies, computer classes and assistance in enrolling them in local schools. Here are a couple of shots I took at the center earlier this year.

And more good news! Donations poured in yesterday for a total of $200. This leaves us just $5 short of our 16th scholarship for these children. Please follow this link to chip in whatever you can spare! It all adds up and makes a huge difference in the life of a child.

Today was one of the more difficult days of the challenge. Here's what I came up with, using just $1 worth of food...

Breakfast. Another morning on the run, so all I had time for was oatmeal with raisins and 3 slices of banana from my weekly banana. ▼

Lunch. My first real meal failure on this challenge. Egg fried rice, but I wanted to try something to mix it up. Roasted potatoes and carrots was not the way to go. I overcooked them and the burned mushy taste was awful. Also had to throw away half of my cabbage leaf ration because it was rotten. I was reminded that there's no refrigeration in the slums and how this must be a common problem, cooking with less than fresh food but having to eat it for survival. ▼

Dinner. Potato soup, chili style. Added a tablespoon of corn meal from my seasonings allowance to add texture and it worked nicely. Chopped corn tortillas and carrots also helped. Soup, with the right seasonings, is never a bad idea when you're hungry and have little to work with. ▼

Take Action!

1) Please consider giving toward scholarships for children of the slums. Our goal is to cover a scholarship for 20 kids to get an education this next year. Every little bit helps!

2) Please visit my unofficial sponsor, Amazon.com through this link. 7% of your purchases made through the link are given to Peace Gospel. If you're in the UK, use this link.

3) If you're compelled by my effort here, please share it with friends. One of the main goals is awareness. So if you can help with that, huge.

4) Leave me feedback. Please comment on this post, especially if you have any ideas about what I should try to cook with these ingredients I have available. I love hearing from you! It really helps!