The Urban Poor

The community of informal settlers in Barangay 825

Even tho I have seen a lot in the meantime it seems Metro Manila is a host to just an infinite dimension of poverty.

Today I went with two of my co-workers to a community living underneath a bridge of the President Quirino Avenue. The community exists out of 95 families, many of them living there already since the 1970ies. As so many other communities living close or at the inner city conduit (called Esteros) they are also affected by the "Pasig River Rehabilitation Project" which aims to clean up the river, but also means to evict the informal settlements along it.
 
Already by approaching the community I started to feel this  sensation in my stomach. No sickness, more "concernment". Firstly we talked to a family living to the right underneath the bridge- their construction resting on steels over a stinky, brown-grayish smelly Estero. Trash, garbage, mud and millions of flies- pictures I have encountered already but always get me somehow.

From there we went back to the street and had to pass it halfway. The road it splitted in the middle and in the gap between the pavements a ladder was constructed. We went down there to talk to the people from the community since we've heard there are o few "Returnees", meaning people who have been already forcible relocated and moved back. It was dark and smelly and only a narrow and low plank over the river provided entrance to the constructions people call their homes.

One of the returnees I wanted to interview for my thesis offered us into his home, above the plank, a little ladder led into his place. That one consisted basically out of a 2sqm wide and 50 cm high room, being the habitat for him and his wife. It was so tight I almost didn't fit, the only light was provided by a small bulb.
Shortly after starting the interview we had to change the location since the electricity company arrived on the street and was about to cut the illegal wires which provide the community with electricity, meaning for us and the community pitch-black darkness...

On the street, right next to noisy jeepneys and stinky trucks he explained his pathway, that he got evicted twice, the government failed to provide basic standards for living and he couldn't find any livelihood at the relocationsite and therefore he and his wife had to move back. Under tears he described his Tuberculosis infection and not having money for treatment. Now him and his wife are back in the city, he cannot work and the little money they have is provided by the day labor his wife has every now and then. Since they sold their place at the relocationsite they aren't eligible for a new one and since the community will be demolished in the end of October they are without any alternative: The next habitat is the street.
His Tuberculosis infection paired with the overall situation on the street mean that very soon he will be dead.

-Since I am still heavily emotionally impacted  I don't even want to mention the little children in that community, the current lifestyle they have and the future they are about to encounter...

Understanding Poverty

My personal goal for my time here in Metro Manila was to get closer to poverty and better understand the system of exploitation. However, on days like today I am not sure if I am strong enough to handle what I see, to cope with the stories people tell me or to understand the feelings I have in situations like today. Perhaps I am a sissy, perhaps I used to be too naive or perhaps it is just and only too much.

I have already be able to get rid of so many stigmata, I reconsidered my own stereotypes and discovered even beauty in the very darkness of poverty: courage, friendship, solidarity, hospitality and an incredible amount of humanity among the Urban Poor. But all those positive experiences getting lost in my heart when I sit with those people in a circle and they tell me that they don't have electricity for more than a month now and women getting raped and domestically abused. That the guy we interviewed today will be dead, only because society is not willing or not prepared to share the wealth. And there is wealth, everywhere around us. But we are just to greedy, to much concerned about ourselves and to stubborn to understand that every decision we make, regardless in Manila, Berlin, San Francisco or Xela, will affect someone somewhere. And that people you have never known before, are going to die because of those decisions. 

I always thought I would be a strong person- a maker, someone who sees issues , approaches them and works hard to find solutions. But there are places in the world where I am not able to see any solution, where I don't see any hope, where I only see the sadly truth, the truth that mankind sometimes sucks.

-And I promise, for all the women, children and men I have had the honor to meet in their communities: if anyone ever will tell me again that Capitalism is something positive I will beat the f****** shit out of that person!!!!!!!

The Urban Poor Associates

However, there are soldiers for humanity, those who keep the torch of Human Rights straight up and against any resistance. I don't mean military forces, I don't mean the UN or Caritas either. I mean those people working on the ground; either because they share experiences or because they share values; either because themselves or their families are affected or because they just care for each other.

In all the sadness, all the poverty and all the madness of capitalism and the aftermath of exploitation there are people like the community organizers from UPA, like community leaders in North Harbor for example, or architects from the universities who all stick together and fight for equality and dignity. Who will not forget that we are humans and part of us is just to take care of each other.

As hard my internship is -everyday, as much do I appreciate the employees and friends of UPA for sharing with me their values, perceptions and hope for a better world. THANK YOU!