UCCP Community Ministry in Smokey Mountain II: Stories of Transformation & Hope…

A Brief Introduction

Smokey Mountain II Garbage Dumpsite is located in Tondo, near the North Harbor. It was opened up in 1998 and since then people started moving there because there is money in the garbage. The people in Smokey Mountain (numbering more than 500 families) search through the garbage in order to find items they can sell. This might be old bottles, plastic bags, tin cans or metals. Everyday the people work many hours in the hot sun, amidst thousands of flies, bad smell from the garbage and smoke from fires that have been started in order to get out hidden metals. Usually, after long hours of hard work a family would earn around 150-200 pesos (3-4 US dollars) a day. The dangers of this environment are obvious, especially the threats to the health of the many children. They suffer from chronic lung/breathing and skin diseases. Young at that (ages 5-10 years old) many of them already have to help their parents literally scavenge for food and garbage. Sometimes someone gets pulled

over by the garbage trucks or falls of a running truck as what had happened recently to our 8- year old pupil who tragically died in such accident. In addition to that, many of the children are malnourished. Another glaring problem is that school education is inaccessible and unaffordable to most of them.

We see these families struggle hard in most hazardous ways in order to simply survive , that The children in front of the school building they don’t bother anymore about the importance of sending their children to school as they consider it an additional financial burden.

When the UCCP-Tondo Evangelical Church led by Pastor Rannieh B. Mercado and Chairman Willy Pulia became aware of this challenging situation and in response as well to the appeal of the community for a sustained children’s ministry , a decision arose in January 2008 to build up a Day Care Center at the dumpsite itself so that some of the children would have the chance to study there and get at least formal pre-school education . Since then, classes have been going on and the children are provided with school supplies and materials.

We also hope to start a regular feeding program soon. The 50 children are often made part of the congregational life , in occasions such as Christmas, Holy Week or Easter and Church Anniversary.

They were also invited to join the Vacation Church School (VCS) at the end of April/ beginning of May, 2008. In July-August 2008 a playground was constructed by the participants of Youth for Children (YfC), a Programme of the United Evangelical Mission. Last December 23, 2008, a contingent of 40 doctors, management staff and personnel from Medical Center (MMC) had conducted a gift giving for Christmas . It was a special Project initiated by Bro. Wily Pulia and MMC Employees Union dubbed “ Pamaskong Handog Para sa mga Maralitang Bata at Pamilya sa Smokey Mountain II” as inspired by the very words of Christ Jesus: “ Whatever you did to the least of mine brethren, you did it to me .” More than 210 families and children were blessed and grateful for such unique act of human solidarity.

Also with the combined fund support from friends in Melbourne, Australia, UEM in Germany and UCC-USA, we tendered a joyous 2008 Christmas Eve celebration among the pupils and parents of the Day Care Center through worship, dinner, parlor games and gift packages.

There are many future plans for a better service to the children in Smokey Mountain: on 6 February 2009 we are set to take the 50 Day Care pupils to a recreational & educational tour to the Manila Zoo on the occasion of Carolin Bloecher’s 20 th birthday. This will surely be a unique experience for all of them. In April before the start of new classes we plan to enlarge the school Left: Gift Giving on Dec. 23; right: the 50 children from Smokey th buildingMountain to take be readypart in forthe 109the new UCCP students Tondo Church in June. Anniversary, ov. 30, 2009

The Church experiences the truth of what is written in the UCCP’s Vision-Mission: We are committed to pursuing a “transformed church and society towards an abundant and meaningful life for all”. This we experience now: As we stand in solidarity with the people in Smokey Mountain and push for transformation there we ourselves as a church and as individuals are changed and transformed.

In the following the stories of two students of the day care center and of one of the teachers are presented in order to show the impact our community ministry has in Smokey Mountain.

Stories of Transformation and Hope…

Jolina

Jolina Caponez is 6 years old and the eighth of 10 children. The oldest one is 20 years old, the youngest only one. Since the death of the father in 2005 her mother (Aileen Duro, 46) struggles to raise 6 of her children who stay with her. The other ones are living with relatives in other parts of the country or are already taking care of themselves. Once, the family lived in Samar Province in Eastern Visayas Island of Central , but in 1997 they migrated to Manila. When asked about the reasons they said that the opportunities in the countryside are very few. The family farmed a small field in Samar to plant rice and vegetables but their life was very poor and they decided to come to the city in search of a better life. Since their arrival in Manila, Jolina’s family has been living in Smokey Mountain II Garbage Dumpsite.

Jolina has been born there and visited Samar Jolina with her famil y in the entrance of th eir house only several few times. For her, the garbage dumpsite is her home place and she never knew another life. The 7 family members live in a little self-made shanty of 5x5m². The family survives by collecting items from the garbage that can be sold to earn money, e.g. plastic bags, bottles, tin cans or metals. The smaller children are not sent to the garbage yet, but the mother and one of her sons aged 16 are working every night. This is better for them because during daytime it is very hot to stay outside in the sun. Every day the two of them are able to collect as much garbage as to earn around 200 Pesos (4 US dollars). From this small money the food and daily needs for 7 persons need to be bought. This helps us to imagine how hard the life of the scavengers in Smokey Mountain is.

For Jolina and her family it was a glimpse of hope when the day care center started by UCCP Tondo moved in the dumpsite. With the other children in an activity Since then, Jolina and one of her brothers, Joshua (8), are able to go to school every day and to learn reading, writing, calculating and other helpful things. The children enjoy going to school and are very industrious. Before, they were roaming around and didn’t have much occupation, but now they study daily in the day care center. Jolina’s family is also happy that the school and supplies are free for the children. They could not afford to send Jolina and Joshua to a regular school where they would have to pay tuition fees.

Since the start of classes last year a lot seems to have changed in the lives of the two children. They have learnt to imagine many plans for the future and are excited to grow up productively. Jolina wants to become a teacher to help other children to study and Joshua likes to be a policeman (“to arrest bad people” ). Talents that had not been recognized before are now being explored and enhanced. Jolina is only 6 years old, but she seems to be born to be a speaker. During activities in the church she already had opportunities to show this. Jolina says : “Ang ganda ng day care center kasi pwuedeng magaaral ang mga bata at libre naman!” – “The day care center is really great because many children can study now and it’s for free!”

Their mother adds that she hopes that the day care center stays in Smokey Mountain so that more children have the opportunity to study. For Giving a testimony during UCCP her own children she wishes that they finish Tondo’s Church Anniversary their studies because education is most important for a good future. If Jolina and Joshua have an opportunity to continue their studies they will later on be able to care for their whole family.

For us in UCCP Tondo Evangelical Church, our common hope is that those children study hard and don’t lose their dreams for a better future. We deeply wish that their lives can be further changed and that they understand the message we want to bring to them: It is the message of transformation and hope. Our motivation for joining in the struggle of the people in Smokey Mountain is our faith in Jesus Christ, who was the first one to tell this message of transformation to us.

Rolly

Rolly Espinocilla is one of the students of UCCP Tondo’s day care center in Smokey Mountain II. He is 10 years old and deaf. His mother Merly (34) and his father Romy Espinocilla (29) have another 12-year-old son, Arniel, who is also studying in the day care center, and a baby of 3 weeks.

Many years ago, the family was living in Navotas (another depressed place in ), but they transferred to Smokey Mountain II Garbage Dumpsite because of relatives living there and better opportunities to earn a living. Since then, their livelihood has been

scavenging. The two boys Rolly (left) and his family in the dumpsite are helping their family in picking through the garbage. In one day the family is able to collect as much garbage as to earn a 180 Pesos a day. If they don’t go and pick up garbage they will have no food to eat for that day.

Rolly and his brother Arniel are very industrious and willing to study. The family is happy for this unique chance of their two sons to have some basic education. Despite his handicap, Rolly is learning fastly and is very interested in whatever his teachers teach him. He is also well integrated in the community and with the other children. In the classroom everyone is amazed at his friendly being and joy of life.

Rolly and Arniel have learnt to envision great dreams and plans for the future: They like to go on with their studies and have a profession. Arniel says that he wants to become a doctor “ to help sick people ” and Rolly seems to express interest when he plays in being a policeman when he is playing.

The day care center gives hope to their parents that want their children to have a better life someday. The two boys seem to be bright students, During Vacation Church School (VCS) but if there would be no day care center in their home place they would probably not be able to go to school because for most families in Smokey Mountain the tuition fees for schooling are unaffordable.

Before, Rolly’s and Arniel’s only occupation was picking up garbage, but now they have the chance to learn writing, reading and many other things. The parents hope that continued support can be given to their children, especially to Rolly who would need to enroll in a specialized school in order to learn sign language.

For us in the Church, these children like Rolly are signs of hope and transformation that shine a light in our world of injustice and inequality. We desperately wish to be able to touch more lives through our ministry in Smokey Mountain and to continue to put into practice the teachings of Jesus Christ who was with the poor and the oppressed of our world.

Teacher AnaAnaAna

Analuna Acosta is 18 years old and is the pioneer teacher in the day care center. She has 8 siblings aged 10 to 30 and lives with her family in the dumpsite. The family came to Manila in the 1980s and stayed in Smokey Mountain I, the first garbage dumpsite in Tondo. When this one was closed down in 1994 they moved to Laguna to join relatives there. Ana (middle) and her family In 2000 Ana’s family moved to Aurora, their original province in South , until they returned to Manila in 2006 because they were no longer able to survive in the province. In Smokey Mountain I Ana’s mother owned a small junkshop and bought the garbage of the scavengers to sell it to a recycling company, but now their livelihood is again collecting garbage. Extra income comes from her father’s selling potable water to some households in the Teacher Ana in action dumpsite, where there’s an absence of water supply. The family is also very happy that their daughter is now teaching in the day care center and has a regular income.

One of Ana’s brothers once used to be a volunteer in the day care center, but he was imprisoned for 5 months because the police caught him sniffing rugby (some kind of a prohibited substance or drug). He is now back and expressed his interest to volunteer again. The church decided to give him a second chance and hopes that this young man is able to profoundly change his life. Ana recalls that when she was younger she was very shy and didn’t have much self- confidence because some people used to tell her that she was useless and stupid. But she always had a heart for teaching children and was in fact already conducting informal classes in front of her house before the day care center was constructed. The trust that was put in her made her more confident of herself and she says that she is more open to other people now and knows better how to express herself. Since she started teaching in the day care center Ana feels happier because she feels that she is able to educate and empower the children and to change their lives. Her wish for the future is to continue teaching and to have more students. She also hopes to be able to continue her studies as she only finished her elementary school . But despite this fact UCCP Tondo saw her talent and wish to teach and is ready to support her to continue her schooling. Probably Ana could proceed to College fast and take up teaching, of course.

The church is happy to have such a committed teacher for the day care center and also sees the importance of the fact that Ana is very close to the children as she lives in Smokey Mountain, too. We hope to continue to support and empower her to enhance her skills and abilities because we believe that targeting transformation is one of the essences of living out our faith in Jesus Christ in this world. The glimpses of light and hope that we see already today strengthen us and help us to proceed on this way.

(Prepared on Jan. 23, 2009 by Ms. Carolin Bloecher , 20 years old, Youth Ecumenical Volunteer/Intern from the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), Germany to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. She serves in UCCP-Tondo and Smokey Mountain Community Ministry as her Internship placement from October 2008 to August 2009)