HOPE FOR THE WASTELAND

News would often feature people of interest like street children or garbage collectors.  Watching from the television, one can have a glimpse of the people’s condition.  Garbage collectors are extra ordinary people because of what they do.  I mean who would like to do what they do?  Who would dive into the mire of trash to find something they can sell and to feed themselves?  Who would lose their dignity and pride to live off other people’s trash or left overs?

A child runs after his father in the mountain of trash.

It’s different when you watch from the TV and when you’re actually there.  While television can provide us with several angles, it’s quite different when you’re there in the dumpsite where you can see the bigger part or the whole of it.  It’s different when you get to stare at it for a long time.  We may hear their stories from the speaker of the television, but it’s a different experience when you’re face to face with them and hear their voice from their tired and dry mouth.  We’ll never smell anything from our television.  But when you’re there at the dumps, every unimaginable stench comes alive and you can even feel it.

"Anything left for us?" Most of the garbage here have been scavenged already because they came from the mini dumpsite of other barangays. They would be lucky if they would still find some other scraps they can sell.

Such is the condition of the people in Payatas Main in Bonuan Tondaligan, Dagupan City.  They live in several hectares of  land just to accommodate the garbage of Dagupan City.  It happens to be near the sea also.  It’s a wasteland because all you see are waste.  One side mountain of trash, the other side cemetery.  Shanties are on the beach.  It’s very hot and dry.  And you’ll see juices of concentrated trash leaking towards the cemetery and into the sea.

On the left side is the mountain of trash. On the right side is the cemetery. Our youth is walking on the walls of cemetery to get to the houses where the garbage collectors live on the other end.

The garbage collectors living in here consider it a privilege to live there because they have no where to go. They could not possibly afford to live outside of the garbage area. They have to live here.

Will it ever change?  Will their condition change?  How will it change?  What can we do?  Where do we start?

The shanties of some of the garbage collectors who live inside the dumpsite. They just live near the beach.

We’ve always felt that we can do something about this.  It may not be big but we can always do something about it. We decided to do ministry among the garbage collectors right in the dumpsite.  We’re going to feed the kids of the dumps every Saturday.  And we’re going to have learning lessons and play time with them, right there at the very dumps.

In a barren wasteland,  where people consider it as home and livelihood, an act of kindness can inspire hope in them to live for something better.  Their life and condition is not hopeless, we simply need to be there and share our life with them.  And who knows, their life may change because we took the initiative to reach out to them.  For us, it is simply an act of faith, that God can multiply our efforts and produce result.

Right now here are some things we will do and maybe you can help us out.  We want to partner with anyone who desires to be part of providing hope for children and families of Payatas.

 NEEDED ITEMS:

Clothes

Hygiene packs – soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste

Vitamins & Medicines – for cuts and infections

Food Items

Finances – for fare and for the food we will cook.

One thing that were very bent on having is to provide a makeshift hall to do our activities.  There are no shades where we can seek refuge and have our kid’s lessons and crafts.  We intend to bring some tarpaulin and other materials to provide a shade for us but we’re hoping for something more permanent as the project starts.

We hope to find sponsors for the hall and build it soon…

It's a dry and barren land, we need to build a makeshift hall for our activities.

 Proverbs 3:27, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

Even under the pouring rain, they would not stop scavenging. They have to eat....

The Payatas (Main) Outreach will begin on November 5, 2011.

You contact the following persons:

Israel Tarlit – easy_rael@yahoo.com