Day 4: My birthday!

I'm dedicating day 4 to the children of the Payatas Landfill Scavenger's colony in Manila, Philippines. It's a slum colony situated right on the edge of a huge landfill. This is the kind of child labor that is rampant here. They sift through the garbage looking for recyclable materials to redeem for a few pennies a pound. I took this shot during my April visit this year. Yes, that's tar on fire right behind him. As with all the images on this blog, just click/tap to enlarge.

But just a few blocks from here there's a glimmer of hope. At the Children's Hope Center of Manila, we're offering children a chance to break out of the cycle of extreme poverty, through proper education and nutrition. Here's a shot of some of our kids learning basic computer skills at the center. That look in their eyes, it's hope.  

Great news! Yesterday someone donated another $25 toward our first goal--one scholarship to help rescue a child from child labor and get her enrolled at one of our education centers. This means we just have $450 to go to reach our first scholarship for this campaign to reach a total of 20! We can do this! Any amount, $1, $5, $10, $25--it all adds up when we come together!

Please donate anything you can afford to help us rescue one of these kids!

On to the food... Today was a good day in terms of variety. Here's what I was able to come up with using just $1 worth of food.

Breakfast. Had time to throw together a breakfast taco to go with my standard 1/3 cup of oatmeal with raisins and a pinch of season-all (yes, savory seasonings work well in oatmeal!) Living near the border of Mexico in Texas has made me a lover of Mexican food, so breakfast tacos work well as a staple for me. ▼

Lunch. A pasta primavera improvisation. Since I only have 1/3 cup of pasta noodles per day, I'll sometimes have to supplement with 1/3 brick of ramen noodles to make a pasta dish substantial enough. Added cabbage and carrots, then after cooking, I sauteed with two table spoons of pasta sauce and a splash of canola oil. Seasoned it with 1/3 of the spicy seasoning pack that came with the ramen. Waste nothing! A smaller portion yield, but really delicious! ▼

Dinner. Tostadas! This time a variation--hard boiled egg on top of re-fried beans and brown rice. Baked the corn tortillas using my usual method--baste with canola oil, bake 4 minutes each side on cookie sheet, oven at 450F/230C. Crunchy goodness, while not leaving the tortilla too brittle! A great result for what I have to work with here! All for less than 40 cents if you can believe it! ▼

Birthday "cake." I splurged for my birthday and blew the rest of my frozen banana ration for the week. And "bought" a little jelly from my existing stock using my seasonings allowance, topped the frozen banana slices with the jelly, a few raisins and a pinch or two of cinnamon. This was seriously delicious! ▼

Thanks so much for your support! Today I was blown away that one of my favorite Instagram accounts (@50shadesoforange) featured my photo from yesterday (of the two kids wearing orange) and mentioned this blog in the caption! This kind of awareness-raising for my effort is really appreciated. Thank you for sharing this blog with friends!

Take Action!

1) Please consider giving toward scholarships for children of the slums. My goal is to cover a scholarship for 20 kids to get an education this next year. Every little bit helps! Currently at $50 of my $10,000 goal! Just $450 to go the first step- scholarship #1!

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!