Dear Ones,

We have had a busy few days.  Last week we visited with the neighborhood of Tondo where we were introduced to the poorest of the poor.

We had the privilege of meeting with Malissa, President and CEO of the Purple Centers Foundation.  Her organization works in the community of Tondo.  We are exploring ways we (LDS Charities and Purple Centers Foundation) might work together.

Mothers being taught to cook nutritious meals

As part of our introduction we were escorted through the unusual neighborhood as well as the Purple Centers School which has been established to help lift these children out of the cycle of poverty. 

Children at the soup kitchen

The day was very hot and we felt like we were melting, but this is everyday life for the sweet children of Tondo

After a 2 hour drive from our home, our first stop was the soup kitchen PCF sponsors to provide meals for the undernourished children who have been identified as “wasted”.  It is located in a small church in this same community.  It has been determined from past experience it is important to engage the mothers if there is to be a change in the community.  As part of the feeding program, PCF provides nutrition classes for the mothers of these wasted children and then supervises the preparation of meals.  Mothers who are willing to take these classes and cook the meals can bring their children in to eat.   The children are weighed and measured every week to see their progress.  Malissa reported that most indications show the program is working.  She said the heart breaking part is that some mothers refuse to participate.  They also refuse to let their children go to school.

Elder and Sister Webb standing with the mothers who cook at the soup kitchen.  Malissa is in the blue dress

The food was cooked in a big pot while mothers and children waited.  We watched as they dished up the food.  The plates were filled with rice and the soup with fish heads and greens was added to the mix.  Fish heads are considered a very nutritious brain food here in the Philippines.  The children ate as mothers watched.  Most of the children were hearty eaters, some just picked at the food.  The greens were like tough spinach and they took careful chewing, but the children would work through it.  One little fellow kept taking green balls from his mouth, he would look at it then pop it back in for additional mastication.We stayed for what seemed an hour and then we moved on.

Elder Webb and Malissa discuss needs in Tondo

Life in Tondo

Next we entered the neighborhood from which these children come.  It is hard to describe what we actually saw but I will try and you will not understand; the pictures will give you a little feel for it though.  This community of people once lived atop Smoky Mountain garbage dump.  They were evicted from the site by the government after the International Community complained.  The people of Smoky Mountain simply moved down the mountain and across the street. 

The first alley we walked down was just the entrance to their world.
Each different alcove was the front for a different business

The road narrowed as those working piled their collections higher and higher

There is order in this chaos.  These are sacks of plastic wear waiting to be hauled to the buyer.

What's in the sack?  Each sack is filled with organized recycle. This one is plastic forks.
These people do not have money to spend on making it look nice.

The road led to this section which is kind of dead end.  This picture is taken just before we turned left.

Living in this neighborhood takes strength, ingenuity and an imagination.  

Elder Webb makes friends by showing the children pictures of themselves

As we walked through this world set in another time, our eyes wide, we felt like we were in a Dickens novel with laundry hanging on make shift lines in dark hall ways.  The community itself is made from Manila’s left overs.  The homes are furnished with wood recycled from the dump.  Having said that, when we look deeper past the fact we were walking through garbage we saw industry at work.

Hallway in to the apartment complex.  The three story structure is made by the government from cement and the rest is material rescued from Smokey Mountian.

There is no government incentive to recycle.  No one does.  So this dump site is the business center for the people of Tondo.  They RECYCLE.  They go through everything, leave the dead and dying on the mountain and bring down anything else that can be recycled.  We learned that the plastic that comes on your dry cleaning has two sides, one with printing and one without.  The side without printing is worth more; 5 pesos per kilo.  Do you know how many of those plastic covers would make a kilo?  A lot!  100 peso is about 2 dollars a little more.

The left-overs from your restaurant are first picked over by your waiters.  Then, the garbage cans outside are picked over by those in the streets.  Finally, the trucks pick up the garbage (and the truck guys grab what they can) and take it to the dump.  Then these guys at Tondo tear apart the sacks (I didn't see a glove among them) and pick apart everything.  Very little is left.  They have sacks for plastic, sacks for cans, sacks for cardboard, sacks for .  .  .  .  And up and down the street, they tear open bags and toss stuff back and forth to the guys who are gathering that particular type of refuse. It's called re-cycling.  

There were businesses one right after another each bagging and tearing or taking apart anything of value.  It was a very organized industry in the middle of what seemed like chaos at first sight. 

In the front of this woman's very little home she has established a store front where people can buy things then need.
Capitalism is alive in Tondo.  We should have purchased something, but we did not take money in with us.

From there we headed to the Purple Centers Foundation’s school.  It is visible throughout the community.  It is a large PURPLE colored (the color of royalty) building made of recycled 40 foot containers that were donated to the foundation.  In the long run it probably cost more to use the containers in building the school than it would have to start from scratch but once you start something it is hard to go back.  It is perfect for this community built on recycling and they have a great learning environment for the children.  The program is much like one we would see in the talented and gifted program giving these kids every opportunity to break out of this world into one with more opportunity.  I am not including pictures of the school in this post.  

Children playing school

Welcome to my world

Woman peeling garlic to sell.  Even the Garlic Skin she carefully puts in the sack is recycled

Old lumber recycled from tear downs is recycled.  What cannot be used in their constructions is turned into charcoal.

Of course there are pop cans.

View from the Purple Centers School

There are so many needy projects that come to our attention.  We truly need Heaven’s help to determine where LDS Charities can help the most.  Our funds are not unlimited, but the poverty is.  One thing we have noticed is that we are no longer overcome by what we see.  The Lord has blessed us, and helped us to see good where ever we are.  We are grateful to know there are other good people dedicated to relieving the suffering of the poor. Malissa and Iris are two such people.

Pre- school sponsored by Purple Centers.  This pleasant space was a nice visual surprise.

We finished our tour and headed toward the airport.  Our business for the day was not finished as we headed to Tacloban to check up on one of our projects.  The plane was late and we arrived in Tacloban too late to do anything but grab a bite to eat and head for bed. 

Houses built by GMA Kapuso after Typhoon Yolanda

The next day we went to the project site to inspect the chairs LDS Chairties donated.  GMA Kapuso Foundation has built a community for families displaced by the 2013 Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan was the international name).  It is a very nice place, but up until now the children have not had a school.  GMA has committed to rebuild a number of schools that were destroyed during that time.  LDS Chairties has joined with them to finish the schools off with school chairs.  The chair company we commissioned ships the chair parts then puts them together on site.  We arrived to find one room filled with chair frames and the welder busily welding more.  In another room someone was putting the wood slats on the chairs and still another was silk-screening the name of LDS Charities on the back of the chairs.  It is a major undertaking as construction continues in and around the school.  One room had the complete chairs. 

We talked with the chair rep and made a few recommendations for change then walked around the neighborhood. Then we headed back to the hotel to pack up. 

On our way to the airport we stopped off at a couple of historical sites.  One is the place were General Mac Arthur landed when he returned to the Philippines late in WWII.  So much has happened in this land.

Elder and Sister Webb  at MacArthur monument

General MacAuthur center front was quite an imposing figure

We continue to feel blessed as we experience the many diverse parts of LDS Charities here in the Philippines.  What a privilege it is to serve the Lord in this assignment. Yes there are frustrations, but He has blessed us with extraordinary insight to a very private part of Philippine life.  We know He loves all his children and there is purpose in every experience in every life.  We do not understand the reasons for all things -- such as poverty.  But He does.  We trust in Him and give our frustrations to Him knowing He knows the beginning from the end and will make all things right in His time.

We love you and pray for your well-being. 

Mom and Dad

Gma and Gpa

Elder and Sister Webb