Volunteer in the Philippines with the Visayans

Have you ever considered that your rubbish could end up as someone else’s home? Follow the trail of your trash to poverty stricken families around the world.

A rubbish truck approaches, full to the brim of unwanted, unused, foul and stinking trash. It begins to arch its load, preparing for tonnes of garbage to come crashing down on the heap left from its last visit. As it rears it back, children come running from all angles; they cling on to the side of the truck, excited at the prospect of new junk – their means of a living to supplement their parent’s meagre earnings for the day. At best, they can hope to make $0.75 a day selling their wares, at worst – another day without a proper meal.

For too many children in the Philippines, life scavenging amongst rotting materials and oozing methane gasses is a reality with no education or prospects for the future. Their days are spent competing to separate real waste from sellable waste with the expectation of a good wage from the local junk shops where they trade in their trash for hard earned cash.

Children scavenging through trash to fight for a meager living

I spent one Saturday morning visiting the site in an attempt to get my head around what is being done to remove these children from such a paltry future. Having worked for Kaya Responsible Travel for the better part of a year, I'm coming to understand the elements involved with volunteering in a developing country. I now wanted to get involved with profiling with our partner organisation Volunteer for the Visayans (VFV) who are running various educational projects for children and their families from the dump site.

I was blessed with a local guide for the morning – Jason, who at 17 is one of VFV’s pioneering success stories who has transitioned from dump site to school to college in the span of a few years. With a diminutive frame Jason looks as though he could only be 13 at most, but he assures me of his age and his confidence has clearly bloomed as a result of being weaned off the dump site. Jason tells me about his life before, how he was resistant to VFV’s project ideals and aspirations and how so many of these kids now on the dump are afraid that we’re here to take them away. Filipinos are incredibly warm and open people, but here I was with children afraid to look me in the eye at the risk of being taken away from an honest wage to ben given an education and a brighter future.

Volunteers working on the Dumpsite Project with VFV

When I tried to get an idea of the efforts of the local government and how they were getting involved, the locals tried desperately not to give me a straight answer. I’m told the government can’t ‘afford' or ‘risk’ funding a project on a grander scale. Why, I don’t know, but it’s clear from the children I have spoken to that the hardest challenge is being able to get the dump site out of their system and to believe that school is the right pathway for them. It is so sad to see children turn away from me when I know that all I’m trying to do is give them hope for a future away from the site, from the foul mounds of waste, mosquitoes and diseases which has affected so many of those I pass. One child no older than four stares at me blankly with his one good eye, the other clouded and infected, perhaps never to see through again.

There is still hope, though, partly through the strength of international volunteers who give dance classes at the school for some of the rescued children. Some of the volunteers told me how shocked they felt when they heard of the horror stories and accidents on and off the site. They told me to make sure that the work here is continued, that volunteers keep coming, that children are still sponsored and that donations are still given so that VFV can continue to prosper.

The signs are good. Since the project started, 35 kids have been rehabilitated, 2 have fully graduated from school and the parents have seen livelihood projects started to give them an incentive to stray away from the dump site themselves. A success story? So far, but there is still a long way to go before the dump site is free of families clasping their metal pick fighting for their right to an honest wage.

How to Get Involved:

Volunteer for the Visayans is asking for a number of contributions for their Dump Site Project. They are looking for child sponsors as well as volunteers for their projects, monetary donations as well as supplies art books for the children including:

• School supplies
• Used clothing
• Used shoes

Those who have been inspired by this story are asked to spread the word so more people are aware of the life of those living and working on dump sites around the world. You can get in touch with VFV through their website at www.visayans.org

For more volunteering opportunities, you can also contact Kaya Responsible Travel at: www.KayaVolunteer.com