Irrelevant Ramblings

In my short life I have had the opportunity to travel to a number of different countries. And in each of the countries I have been able to see how and where people live. I have seen the homes of the rich and famous and have seen the homes of the poorest of poor.

When I was 11 my family and I attended Youth With A Mission. With this missions group we traveled to and around Asia for three months. One of the most memorable places we visited, on this outreach, was the Philippines. To this day I can remember the smells, the smiles and the beauty of the people and the country.

Manila is home to an estimated 19,150,000 people and is the most densely populated city in the Philippines. With all those people crammed into one area there are hundreds of thousands of “homeless,” as 33% of the population of the city live below the poverty line. Everywhere you drive the roads are lined with tin roofed makeshift shacks.

If living on the side of a major highway is not enough, you can drive down said highway to place called Payatas. Payatas is the home of the Metro Manila dump. This place is not only a dump, but it is home to approx. 10,000 people. That’s right there are 10,000 men, women and children living on a dump. Without seeing it, it is hard to believe that people can live like that, but they do. There are whole neighborhoods formed on the dump. These neighborhoods include homes, and believe it or not stores. For the longest time I thought that this was one of the worst places to live, but then I heard of a worst place.

What can be worse than living with your family living on a dump? How about living in hell, literally? Also in Manila, Philippines there is a place called the Manila Northern Cemetery and believe it or not there are approx. 10,000 men, women and children living in the cemetery. If living in a cemetery isn’t bad enough the cemetery is so overcrowded (by dead) that every five years the crypts are broken open and the bones are thrown on the ground. Children live and play amongst the bones and skulls of the dead.

Don’t believe me, watch this video by Bill Wilson of Metro Ministries.

It’s hard for me to believe that there are people that live like this, but I have seen life on the dump first hand. It’s encouraging to know that there are people, like Bill Wilson and others, that are doing what they can to help these marginalized people.

What Can You Do?

You to, can help, by going to the Metro Ministries website and making a donation, or by sponsoring a child.