Thursdays for others trip to Smokey Mountain, Tondo - named for the mountains of garbage dump that look like they are smoking because of the methane gas emitted. Yum! This is a big "squatter" community that used to live in shacks on the dump, but the government furnished "permanent housing" which we toured. In particular, we are here visiting YWAM (youth with a mission) and it's Tuberculosis ministry, following up with TB patients to take their medicine regularly, sponsoring children's education, etc. This is an area where the main source of income is garbage picking and reselling. I was told that when children are asked what they want to be when the grow up, they reply "a garbage picker, like my parents". And that is exactly what they do - only they don't usually wait until they are grown up, unless you consider a 5 year old a grown up... Gerald, Oliver and Jojo, posing for a picture. They love digital cameras because they get to see themselves immediately. They laugh and poke fun at each other when they see the pictures.
One of the ladies who helps distribute the TB medication to patients in the program. It can take 6-12 months to fully recover from TB if medication is taken regularly.
Two sweet little girls that it was too hard to resist taking a picture of...