Tonight was a very quiet night. I had never enjoy such a quiet night for a long time. Maybe I just need time to slowly adapt to my new life here in the rapidly growing city of Kuala Lumpur. As usual, I was browsing through a few blogs and surfing the web looking for something to catch my attention. These days i found a lot of blogs talking about how to earn money and how to spend money wisely. I thought for a while. Can we spend money and at the same time be wise? Is it to buy a cheaper yet presentable gift since Christmas is just around the corner? Then suddenly, I begun to wonder, do people actually appreciate the gifts we gave them? Hmm...after that i continued browsing around until I saw this particular article that caught my attention. It was about a charity drive to collect fund for the Payatas to celebrate Christmas.
http://www.christmasforpayatas.com/
At that moment, I seriously had no idea what is Payatas. I know Nasi Pataya but never had I heard about Payatas. As a curious person in nature, I decided to google it. After reading what I found in the web, i felt sorry for them but it wasn't until I saw this youtube video. Believe it or not, after watching that video, I could feel tears rolling down my cheek. It was then that I decided to write it here hopefully to lend a helping hand in bringing Christmas for Payatas.
Some of you might have heard of them but to be honest, I've never heard about them. There is this place in The Philippines which is located in the suburbs of Manila, 20km away from the central area of the city known as the Payatas dump. It is at a place called the Smoky Valley after Smoky Mountain, the biggest garbage dump in the Philippines and one of the three biggest slums in the world. Smoky Mountain was dismantled by the government in 1995. For over 35 years, that place had been a heart wrenching place which remind us of the desperate conditions of humanity. Smokey Valley is 70 ha large where 3,000 ton of garbage is brought in every day. Around Smokey Valley, approximately 92,000 scavengers (18,000 families) live.
scavengers of Payatas collecting rubbish for a living
Something tragical incident happened on 10 July 2000, after a period of torrential rain, a trashslide occurred in the Payatas dump claiming over 200 lives, including many children. The victims were the scavengers and sorters at the dump site and those living nearby. After that incident, authorities instituted better management of the site but still many continued to depend on scavenging because that's the only way for them to survive for the day.
From the video, I could see that the people of Payatas were actually running after an incoming rubbish truck just to collect the fresh rubbish that just arrived hoping to find something valuable to sell so that they could buy food for the day. Even children as young as 4 years old would be there helping their parents to collect valuable rubbish because that remains their only means of livelihood. Therefore, many of them were unable to go to school. Due to the harsh living conditions, many children suffer from malnutrition and skin diseases. The infant mortality rate is as high as 30%. They lived and stayed next to the rubbish dump and the children spent hours under the hot sun trying to find food. I can see that they felt so happy to find sausages from the rubbish. Can you tell me what would you do if you found overdue sausages in your fridge? If you saw the video, can you see how contented they were to find a half eaten sausage in the dump? Moreover, can you imagine sleeping at a rubbish dump? Now you tell me, how far is your car from the rubbish truck when you saw one stopping right in front of you at the traffic light. Let me tell you how far I was last saturday. I was roughly 7-8 meters away. Can you imagine at Payatas, they were actually competing against each other to see who reaches the rubbish truck first? And that is not only the adult, the children did the same.
Children of Payatas
There are over 20,000 children living on the Smokey Mountain. This foundation hopes to be able to feed 5000- 10000 children everyday. Besides that, this foundation is also trying to bring education for the children. Only by education that they can move away from this scavenging lifestyle and improve on their life. In response to the plight of these children, Totedaddy.com is working with Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation to bring a little cheer to the children this Christmas. Other supporters includes FusionExcel International, which has previously donated funds towards this worthy initiative. The purpose of this charity drive is to bring Christmas for Payatas.
from left : Matthew Ting, CEO of ToteDaddy; Paul Ting, CEO of FusionExcel International; Judge Lorenzo B. Veneracion
This charity drive, Christmas for Payatas is actually supported by a lot of celebrities. I even saw some of our childhood football stars Lee Sharpe from Manchester United and Ray Parlour from Arsenal. Other celebrities includes Philippines Basketball Legends Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim and Alvin Patrimonio.
Philippines Basketball Legends
Christmas is a time where everyone should be happily enjoying themselves with their family and friends. I too hope that the Payatas will enjoy a delightful Christmas this year. If I had the ability to donate, I will definitely do so but as I just moved into the busy city, I'm still struggling to meet ends. For you people out there who enjoy reading my blogs, please do lend an arm for the Payatas so that they could enjoy a peace and pleasant Christmas. I believe it would brighten up the day in which they need not go to the rubbish dump to collect rubbish just to earn a living for that day.
You just need to click here and donate. It's that easy. For every donation, you actually planted a seed of happiness in each and every resident of Payatas. I, hereby, bravely voluntarily thanking all you generous people on behalf of the children of Payatas.
Energetic volunteers and children of Payatas
Here is the video that touches deep enough to make a big man like me rolled a tear down the cheek.
"There are days when we don't get anything and there's nothing we can do."
"If there is nothing to eat, we just to to sleep"
"That's why i wish that those who can afford would help us"
"A lot of people oppress us"
"Some people residing near here call us names"
"They call us Garbage People when they saw my parents scavenging here"
"But I'm hurt. But I say to them that even if we are only scavengers, at least we are not thieves"
"But what we are doing is still honorable"
http://www.christmasforpayatas.com/
At that moment, I seriously had no idea what is Payatas. I know Nasi Pataya but never had I heard about Payatas. As a curious person in nature, I decided to google it. After reading what I found in the web, i felt sorry for them but it wasn't until I saw this youtube video. Believe it or not, after watching that video, I could feel tears rolling down my cheek. It was then that I decided to write it here hopefully to lend a helping hand in bringing Christmas for Payatas.
Some of you might have heard of them but to be honest, I've never heard about them. There is this place in The Philippines which is located in the suburbs of Manila, 20km away from the central area of the city known as the Payatas dump. It is at a place called the Smoky Valley after Smoky Mountain, the biggest garbage dump in the Philippines and one of the three biggest slums in the world. Smoky Mountain was dismantled by the government in 1995. For over 35 years, that place had been a heart wrenching place which remind us of the desperate conditions of humanity. Smokey Valley is 70 ha large where 3,000 ton of garbage is brought in every day. Around Smokey Valley, approximately 92,000 scavengers (18,000 families) live.
scavengers of Payatas collecting rubbish for a livingSomething tragical incident happened on 10 July 2000, after a period of torrential rain, a trashslide occurred in the Payatas dump claiming over 200 lives, including many children. The victims were the scavengers and sorters at the dump site and those living nearby. After that incident, authorities instituted better management of the site but still many continued to depend on scavenging because that's the only way for them to survive for the day.
From the video, I could see that the people of Payatas were actually running after an incoming rubbish truck just to collect the fresh rubbish that just arrived hoping to find something valuable to sell so that they could buy food for the day. Even children as young as 4 years old would be there helping their parents to collect valuable rubbish because that remains their only means of livelihood. Therefore, many of them were unable to go to school. Due to the harsh living conditions, many children suffer from malnutrition and skin diseases. The infant mortality rate is as high as 30%. They lived and stayed next to the rubbish dump and the children spent hours under the hot sun trying to find food. I can see that they felt so happy to find sausages from the rubbish. Can you tell me what would you do if you found overdue sausages in your fridge? If you saw the video, can you see how contented they were to find a half eaten sausage in the dump? Moreover, can you imagine sleeping at a rubbish dump? Now you tell me, how far is your car from the rubbish truck when you saw one stopping right in front of you at the traffic light. Let me tell you how far I was last saturday. I was roughly 7-8 meters away. Can you imagine at Payatas, they were actually competing against each other to see who reaches the rubbish truck first? And that is not only the adult, the children did the same.
Children of PayatasThere are over 20,000 children living on the Smokey Mountain. This foundation hopes to be able to feed 5000- 10000 children everyday. Besides that, this foundation is also trying to bring education for the children. Only by education that they can move away from this scavenging lifestyle and improve on their life. In response to the plight of these children, Totedaddy.com is working with Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation to bring a little cheer to the children this Christmas. Other supporters includes FusionExcel International, which has previously donated funds towards this worthy initiative. The purpose of this charity drive is to bring Christmas for Payatas.
from left : Matthew Ting, CEO of ToteDaddy; Paul Ting, CEO of FusionExcel International; Judge Lorenzo B. VeneracionLee Sharpe, former Manchester United star showing off some of his skills to the children of Payatas
This charity drive, Christmas for Payatas is actually supported by a lot of celebrities. I even saw some of our childhood football stars Lee Sharpe from Manchester United and Ray Parlour from Arsenal. Other celebrities includes Philippines Basketball Legends Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim and Alvin Patrimonio.
Philippines Basketball Legendsfrom left : Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim, Alvin Patrimonio
Christmas is a time where everyone should be happily enjoying themselves with their family and friends. I too hope that the Payatas will enjoy a delightful Christmas this year. If I had the ability to donate, I will definitely do so but as I just moved into the busy city, I'm still struggling to meet ends. For you people out there who enjoy reading my blogs, please do lend an arm for the Payatas so that they could enjoy a peace and pleasant Christmas. I believe it would brighten up the day in which they need not go to the rubbish dump to collect rubbish just to earn a living for that day.
You just need to click here and donate. It's that easy. For every donation, you actually planted a seed of happiness in each and every resident of Payatas. I, hereby, bravely voluntarily thanking all you generous people on behalf of the children of Payatas.
Energetic volunteers and children of PayatasHere is the video that touches deep enough to make a big man like me rolled a tear down the cheek.
"There are days when we don't get anything and there's nothing we can do."
"If there is nothing to eat, we just to to sleep"
"That's why i wish that those who can afford would help us"
"A lot of people oppress us"
"Some people residing near here call us names"
"They call us Garbage People when they saw my parents scavenging here"
"But I'm hurt. But I say to them that even if we are only scavengers, at least we are not thieves"
"But what we are doing is still honorable"
Here's a song for the children of Payatas.
What are you waiting for? Donate now to Christmas for Payatas.
10 comments:
this is a nice article. i'm touched. i'lll try to contribute.
thx bro...
yeah bun bun! thanks for sharing.. will be finding out more of it. it really is heart wrenching. and to think that there are ppl who wont finish what they have on their plate...
like you...hahaha
thank you!!!
I donated USD$5.00 already. How much have you donated? :P
woah...thx shu...
no money donate le...sob..
lol no money donate den ask other ppl donate la.. so smart hor..
yea lo...bcos i no money help...that's y i wrote this blog to help them raise fund lo >.<
Go to take a look at Savepayatas.com if you would like to help the people there.
So many blogs and sites promoting "Christmas for Payatas" not one showing who was helped. If you walk through the dumpsite you will get the answer, other than a few kids getting some shorts and t shirts the $81,000 plus usd is no where to be found. The Light house website has been suspended, I wrote Tote Daddy and Fusion, no answer. ABS-CBN said they had no part in the operation. There is the pre-school across from the Church where most of the photos were taken and they have had no electricity for three months. There is no livelihood programs for 100,000 or education for 25,000 as promised. What's going on? If you want to help Payatas go to http://www.savepayatas.com and put your money where we will account for it.
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