It has been 15 years since I last visited Smokey Mountain. As an aspiring journalist who was still in college, I went here to write stories about people living and getting their sustenance from the dump, families who actually rummaged the garbage for their day’s food.The grim images of the mountain would not leave me for years.
Forward to 2005: the smelly heap that haunted me a decade back is no more and what greeted me on this Sunday morning were rows upon rows of “low-cost” buildings, children playing in the streets and teenage boys running around the court in a game of basketball. Now it seems Smokey Mountain has become a village in itself.
Len, a young mother of three, proudly welcomed me into their concrete unit. Her husband was a scavenger who now works as a cellphone technician. They had to put down a downpayment of P1,800 (roughly $30) in order to move in and now have to pay P800 a month in order to stay in the house they call their home sweet home.
Our org went to Smokey Mountain on our monthly outreach program. We paid a measly P1,500.00 to have two huge vats of porridge (arroz caldo) cooked and be distributed to the residents. In our ordinary lives, P1,500.00 would just be the cost of a hotel buffet lunch or a simple shoe purchase in a mid-level store. Or it could just be what a government fatcat would pay his driver as a “tip” for the day. But in Smokey Mountain, P1,500.00 (less than $30 at the current exchange rates) was enough to feed 500 people. I realized then that it only takes so little to make a big difference, and what is little to us is a big deal to the less fortunate. Hence, we should always count our blessings.
Smokey Mountain is not bereft of unsung heroes. The local parish priest, Fr.Ben Beltran – who is an electrical engineer by profession – is spearheading SM’s cyber-revolution. He proudly showed us a computer room which would house a data encoding facility that will provide jobs to thousands of Smokey Mountain residents. In the very near future, the dump will also be the site of a call center and the world’s first “environmental” church.
Aling Luz reveals that there are an estimated 6,000 families residing in Smokey Mountain. Considering that some families have eight or nine dependents, the total population could reach half a million. Says Luz: “Eh naniniwala kasi sila sa sinabi ng Diyos na humayo kayo at magparami kaya ayan, nagparami sila. Magtataka ka naman, matataba at malulusog ang mga bata namin dito.” (The people here believe in what God said, to go out and multiply that’s why they have multiplied. You would wonder though. Our children here are plump and healthy.)
Going to Smokey Mountain is definitely an eye-opening experience. Poverty may stand for what’s wrong in all of us, but it can also signify the h-o-p-e that’s in all of us – to live, despite all.
thanks for reminding us that there’s still HOPE!
i felt good reading this!
Wow! You’re such an inspiration, Ajay!
By the way, thanks a lot for the Blog-o-rama feature! My officemates were so proud of me, more so my husband! LOL! 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity, Ajay!
I wish bloggers unite to do something like this someday. I will be one of the first volunteers!!
Nice entry, Ajay!
hey ajay a project for you fund raising from all bloggers for your next soup day at Smokey Mountain.
HOPE IS THE WORD AJAY thank you for this exposure!!
An eye opener. Thanks Ajay.
Thank you all… I am glad you appreciated this post. Somehow, the plight of people from Smokey has thugged at my heartstrings and I wanted to share it with you
Tin and Sha..a cause-oriented event organized by bloggers, that’s a very good idea indeed. Hope ti comes true someday
God bless everyone!
wala lo mag binuang ana ha… kay ning mga bloggers diri arang arang ang kinabuhi.. pila ra na kwarta sa usa ka bowl ng sabaw!
Poverty may stand for what’s wrong in all of us, but it can also signify the h-o-p-e that’s in all of us – to live, despite all.
how true… for how come, while poverty is rampant, we don’t see these people taking their lives to supposedly end their misery… in the midst of hunger pangs and unhealthy surroundings, these people still go on to build families… to still dream…
Alam mo, Ajay, magandang idea yung comment ni Tin. It would be great for bloggers to come up with something like this!
Thanks for sharing your Smokey Mountain story. Sana nakasama ako! Volunteers from our office once did Habitat for Humanity. It was hard work but it was fun nonetheless.
I agree Mec..although I believe that we should not overdose on the fatalism stuff..
Sana nga there will be something worthwhile that bloggers can do…we can organize because to use the cliche, if there’s a will, there’s a way..
Ajay, proud na proud ako sa iyo for what you are doing back diyan sa tulong na ginagawa mo sa mga mahirap na family sa smokey mountain. i wish there were more like
you back there with open eyes, arms and hearts. keep up
the good work :).
Thanks Calipinoy..maliit na tulong lang yun. But I wish there could be more people involved..it would be good. Regards:)
Annalyn, totoo, behind the dark clouds lies the silver lining…a heartfelt entry, thanks for sharing.
have a good weekend!
{btw, nakuha mo email ko?}
Thanks for dropping by Thess, hope you are not sick anymore. I’ll answer your email now…:)