Out of mud and mire

The sprawling Tondo slums, located near dumpsites just outside of Manila, the Philippines, are a precarious home for thousands of families. Many of them spend all day scavenging through the garbage for cans, plastic bottles, pieces of glass—anything recyclable that they can sell.

Some people survive by recooking and selling leftover meat scraps from the trash. The recycled protein sells for only a few pesos, but it’s enough to get through another day.

Scavenging for already-eaten food that can be recooked and sold is a common source of income in Tondo.

Squishing through mud and muck and worse; dodging motorbikes zipping down narrow alleys; battling the stench of trash, sweat, and smoke—it’s all part of Tondo.

But so are the children, who are vibrant and full of life. They sprawl out on the street and play a game with bottlecaps or jump rope or shoot hoops on a net-less rim.

Their parents are fiercely resilient, too. An intense love compels them to work grueling hours on garbage trucks or to travel into the city to work construction in order to provide for their children.

Children make the best of what they have, as these girls enjoy a pretend game of “house” and prepare food in their kitchen.

Tondo is a grueling place to live and that’s why Samaritan’s Purse is working in Tondo in Jesus’ Name to bring both physical relief and the hope of the Gospel. Our projects include vocational skills training; nutrition; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and education.

Samaritan’s Purse staff show compassion in Jesus’ Name to Tondo families struggling to make ends meet.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. –Psalm 40:2