With poverty resident in every direction you look, far and near, throughout the city of Manila, generations of the poorest in the Philippines have learned to resource life in some of the most condemning conditions known. What has become life lived normal, when viewed from the outside, can be seen for what it is – cesspools of calamity where danger, disease and destruction lie in wait and can quickly bring demise to one’s life as they know it.

Poverty, and life in the slums, is not a minority affliction for children living in, and around, the city of Manila; it is the experience of the majority. And because there are millions of children living in severe and unsafe conditions, it becomes hard to distinguish those in the greatest need of help. But we go where the Lord leads us and often find ourselves faced with situations beyond comprehension, wondering how families and children can actually live in such depleted conditions.

Nearby, or inside the compounds of, city trash dump sites you will find a majority of the poor living in congested communities. Producing an income from recycling trash has become a way of life for most, including the children. Hard labor in the hot sun, for hours on end, is how many children spend their days – and, in most cases, for just enough pay to provide food for the day.