Informal Settlers

Lisa, Momma, Jean and kids

There is a situation in the Philippines, where the very poor live nearby the very rich, but you wouldn't know it unless you looked for it.  We had the opportunity to visit a family in what was once called a "squatter's" village but is now referred to as an informal settlement.
Our hosts, sisters Jean and Lisa, are members of an organization that our friend Larry Thrasher formed called World Sisters United. The idea was to help online sex workers find other forms of employment, eg. sari sari stores, internet kiosks, small agricultural initiatives, etc. The problem with a cash poor society is that customers pay by credit much of the time, leaving the small business operators with little cash to build their business, eventually dooming them to failure.  Most of the girls and some of their mothers work in a large underground online sex chat world, out of their homes. This is not just limited to the very poor of informal settlements, it also occurs in many poor households in  Metro Manila.
The following are pix of our visit. It was founded over 30 years ago in a swamp, you access by wooden planks. There are many settlements like this all over the city, the land is owned by both public and private entities.  Sometimes there are payoffs for the settlers to move. Its complicated!!

Lisa, her parents, brother, and 2 kids live here, best house in the community

day care center, 3-5 yr olds

volunteer teacher

informal playground

no works for the men, so ma jong and gambling passes the time,
their daughters and wives are online earning.

how would you like to walk home thru this every day?

We hope these pictures touch you like they did us. We are developing plans to help the children of this community and others like it.  We know that people will do what they have to do to survive, we just would like to see their kids to be able to read and write and think for themselves.