Zaza’s Third World – An Unforgettable Meal Deal

Eugenie Prouvost, www.childrenofthemekong.org

“We have to go back soon! Please! The smell, gasses and smoke will be too damaging to your health”, stressed the lady accompanying me. But I really wanted to stay a little bit longer.

I held my handkerchief on my nose and mouth to protect myself from the hellish smell. I was standing on the smoky mountains – the infamous dumpsites of Manila’s outskirts. Whichever way I turned all I could see were waste, litter, and smoke making its way up to the grey layer, which was covering the area.

Amidst this dark setting children were searching for items that could be sold for a few Pesos. They walked around in small groups and long sticks, which they used to poke the waste underneath them. I had never seen anything like this, and it was about to get worse.

It suddenly started to get lively around me. A little boy just about dodged me and ran towards a rusty truck that had just arrived. More and more children followed suit. Although the vehicle did not have any logos or writing on them the children, that had by now gathered, knew that it was loaded with the waste from fast food chains.

A young mother and her little son invited me to see their place. Their plastic bag was filled with leftover foods, which they had managed to snap away before the others. Their home was a make shift shack over on the far side of the waste mountain. I opened the curtains that led into the inside of a small room (if you can call it that). Four posts held up the tin ceiling. We sat in a circle on the floor and the food was spread out in the middle. The family prayed – and ate their food. The mother and son looked content, while hastily finishing the pieces of burgers and fries they had collected.

It was frightening to see that so many people were living on the left overs from the rich minority of nearby Manila. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations the Philippines has enough food to feed the country. However, 28 million Filipinos are unable to afford their basic nutritional needs. Too many children still go to bed hungry and become malnourished. A poor nutritional status is not only linked to general detrimental health outcomes, but also to an increased risk of living in poverty, and reduced unemployment due to sickness. This can potentially create the so called poverty trap or poverty cycle. It is therefore essential to recognise that poverty, health and economic status are all concepts that are multidimensional and interlinked. Solutions would ideally address the complex inter-relationships.

I am currently getting to know the benefits and impact that new ideas like microfinance can have on poverty alleviation, and in improving the economic stability of individuals. The principle and theory to offer women small loans to provide for their families seem solid. But what about in practice and reality? These are questions that I am hoping to find answers to during my time working at Green Shoots Foundation, and ensure that fewer children will have to live on the smoky mountains.