The Collection of Journals: Poverty in Philippines

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The Collection of Journals: Poverty in Philippines

June 1999

I was woken by the suns rays beaming brightly into my eyes. Outside I knew the city had come to life. I could hear the loud honking of the early morning traffic echoing in my ears, the skidding and grinding of the Jeepneys, Tricycles and Cars. It was 4am and with this abrupt awakening I knew it was the start of yet another exhausting, depressing and hunger filled day.

 

I got up and began to dress; putting on my long pink and white chequered skirt and attached a brown rusty safety pin to keep it together. I picked up a dirty blouse to put on, the left sleeve was torn and instead of being white it had become an ugly distasteful dark shade because of the potent air pollution. I picked up the Wallis Ting-Ting which instead of buying from the shop I had made last week by cutting the old thin branches I took from a nearby tree, snapping off any thorns and used elastic bands to pull them together so I could use it to sweep the broken sharp stones out of the house. The bed, I made from yesterday’s newspaper, its colours had faded and the paper itself began to dissolve into the soil due to dampness from the rain that had lashed Manila last night.  

After college, I used the only money I had left to get on the Jeepney to get home. Once I arrived I changed into my shorts and a top that I sewed together yesterday using three different worn out rags I found in the street near SM City Mall.

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I left the house and took a five minute walk to the rear where they (the unappreciative wealthy people from Alaguna estate) discarded their so called rubbish. I had to rummage around for some more used newspapers to use as bedding for next week and scrap metal to seal the hole in the roof. Their discarded trash looked rusty, discoloured and ineffective but in the world of poverty I live in they are the most luxurious possessions I could hope to discover. I was searching carefully, warily and thoroughly for several hours looking for food to eat, metal for ...

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