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Heyhey everyone!!
All is well over here - arrived in the southern province of the Philippines on Sunday afternoon. We're at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) until Friday. Here, I've been taking a class on Peace Advocacy and it's really interesting. I've truly met some amazing people from all over: Philippines, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Figi, etc. There are even some officers and military personnel from the Filipine Army and even some of the rebel groups, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)!! So that's really interesting to get their opinion!
So one aspect of the trip which I feel is really important to tell you guys about, because it has had a tremendous impact on me, is when we went to the Smokey Mountain right outside of Manila, capital of the Philippines and also the most polluted city in the world! Smokey Mountain is where all the trash of Manila and surrounding area collects. It used to be simply one mountain, however, over time, more and more trash has been collected therefore spreading the trash heaps. To get straight to the point: people live here...families live here and have formed communities. I have been to my share of developing countries and
I don't think I have ever seen a place this bad!
We drove up in 2 vans early Friday afternoon; for the first time ever (in a foreign "situation") I felt nervous. That was such a strange feeling - and I don't know why I felt this way. Perhaps because I felt bad for the people? Maybe because I didn't know what to expect, or how the people would react? Or maybe because I didn't know whether or not it was ok to take pictures? We step out of the van and look around: trash everywhere. There are papers, plastic, plastic bags, cans, coke cans, boxes, metal, wood, ...anything you can imagine, it was there. It was a cloudy and dark day as the rain slowly moved towards the mountain. The smell is simply something I cannot describe; it's a mixture of old trash, rotten food, vomit, dead animals, fuel/gas fumes and all of the above!
I pull myself together and tell myself that it is ok and absolutely necessary for the rest of the world to know about Smokey Mountain - I start taking pictures.
After we meet our "guide", we slowly walk towards a small,
one room kindergarten which is about 40 meters away from where we parked the vans. We are greeted by two volunteer teachers who were younger than I am (ages 18, and 20 I believe). As I look into the classroom, about 15 of the sweetest, most innocent faces stare back at us. So curious and eager to learn who the visitors were! We step in and walk towards the front of the room - we get introduced in Tagalog, one of the other native languages spoken in the Philippines besides English. The kids welcome us and sing several beautiful songs. I was so taken aback - so many differently thoughts and emotions that I experienced...it is really difficult to put that into words.
We hang out with the kids for a good hour: laugh, talk, play, sing, eat (well the kids ate some chips). Before we leave, we sing several songs for them: Twinkle Little Star (which they knew!), Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Hokie Pokie, which they loved! We say goodbye and move on.
The rest of the afternoon we walked through the communities talking with the locals and hearing their stories and playing basketball with some
of the younger kids and teenagers. Their houses are made of all different types of material, some are stacked up on top of each other, all of them have "mud" floors. It's called Smokey Mountain because the people who live there burn much of the materials creating a lot of smoke, which as I'm sure you know causes many health issues. As we were walking on top of the trash, it began to rain - our shoes began to sink into the trash! As it began to rain harder, I still tried to take pictures but I was also trying to not step into any deep "trash" puddles. All of a sudden, I look up and am standing near a huge pile of cow skulls! It was at least 1.5 meter high! As we continue to walk, a new trash wagon comes along bringing new trash (obviously) - the kids, who are the scavengers for the families, run towards it to find their new treasures.
The people here look much older than they really are. Many of them have missing and/or rotten teeth. They do not wear much clothing, and many of the kids may be naked. Many of
the younger kids (ages 4-6, 7, 8..whatever) are responsible and have to watch over their younger siblings. They do however, have a GREAT sense of humor - it amazes me each time how happy the people are. The kids found it absolutely fascinating to see the pictures of themselves after you had taken it on the digital cameras!
One last story, to somewhat end on a "lighter" note: At one of the last communities/housing complex we visited, this elderly woman (she's in 3 of the pictures) comes up to me and says "I'm sorry". Soooo many thoughts go through my mind: what is she talking about? Did I do something wrong? Is she embarassed? Does she not want us here? Then all of a sudden she continues: "I'm druuuunnk!!! I'm soo happy!!" Someone in the community was getting married and they were celebrating! She invited me to do a round of shots with her, but I kindly declined haha I had no idea what they were drinking!! (=
We walk back towards the vans, say goodbye and drive back towards "civilization"....the car ride back was strange, everyone was really quiet and emotional. It was definitely a time to
reflect about all the things we should be grateful for. I went back overwhelmed and motivated.
The Philippines has definitely been interesting! I'm excited to see what's next!! But until the next blog, please remember Smokey Mountain and please be grateful for everything and everyone you have!!
Much love,
Nikki
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Oliva
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toevallig
Hallo Nikki! Ben wat aan 't rondsurfen en kom 'toevallig' jouw blog tegen! Wat een indrukken allemaal - pjoeh. Je hebt werkelijk schitterende foto's gemaakt, al zal het ook wel erg dubbel gevoeld hebben ze te maken... Ik kijk uit naar het vervolgverhaal. Heel veel liefs (ook namens Theo), Oliva