Kay Mackay Chair of Children of the Dump News Article

It’s been such a lovely warm summer here in the UK but a few of those days certainly reminded me of the blistering heat around the dump in Manila where families scavenge for whatever they can sell or even eat. Supporters like you really make a difference for those families who are supported by Children of the Dump, transforming children’s lives through education, and helping them to step out of poverty for ever.
The best possible news from Manila. Finally, over 2 and a half years from the start of the pandemic the authorities have said that it is time to lift all restrictions on face to face schooling for children of all ages.

With the new academic year, which started in late August, children no longer have to rely on difficult online teaching. The happy pupils are back at school with the friends that they have missed. Teachers also prefer the interaction in the classroom. Learning is easier and more fun. It is a joy that our lovely new Cashew Tree School building will finally be able to buzz with 100 excited little students starting out on their school lives with the added benefit of guaranteeing a regular, nutritious lunch for each child every day, cooked in the Mango Tree House kitchen. Hungry children simply don’t concentrate and learn as well as when they are properly fed. With God’s help and the necessary funding, we are aiming to double the number of students in 2023.

I do want to highlight and thank again the amazing dedication of everyone in Manila who successfully adapted to the challenges of the last couple of years. Staff and teachers showed such flexibility in the new conditions. Excellent home learning packs were quickly prepared with new content for use at home. The difficulty of getting these to the pupils with limits on travel were overcome.

With emergency funding provided by wonderful supporters in the UK, staff were able to create a feeding programme for families who literally had no food or means of earning money. Some staff volunteered to live-in at Mango House, away from their own families, ensuring that Mango Tree House continued to operate for those children with nowhere else to go whilst meeting the quarantine conditions set by the government. Strict new cleaning and isolation regimes were introduced and kept everyone safe. Local supporters of ASCF in Manila were incredibly valuable sourcing second hand phones and tablets to enable home schooling and finding scarce cleaning supplies and rice when deliveries were difficult, especially at the start of the pandemic. Now, everyone is more confident about the future.

Our second piece of exciting news is that the number of Grapevine students supported is increasing to 110 with an additional social worker being employed. These students go to local schools and live at home without having to resort to scavenging around the dumps to find daily food. The new students will all need sponsors so if you know of anyone who could be interested, please do talk to them about this.

No one in Manila has ever taken the continued support of our donors and sponsors in the UK for granted. With the phones used for home learning many of the children have been thrilled to create personalised thank you videos for their sponsors. From feedback, we know that sponsors enjoy these.

There are still challenges. The cost of living increases in the UK are also present in the Philippines with prices, especially of food and fuel shooting up. As a result, we plan on taking part in the Christmas Big Give Week when, every donation made by supporters like you will be doubled by match-funding from another organisation. One Donation twice the Impact. This year the dates are Tuesday 29th November (midday) to Tuesday 6th December (midday) . We will be in contact when we know more.

 

Another simple way you can raise funds for Children of the Dump is by using the Give As You Live app or website to access special deals or your normal online shopping. I have been surprised that by shifting to doing my online grocery shopping from a well-known supermarket through Give as You Live – I have raised nearly£50 in the last few weeks at no cost to me. It’s really simple – you just have to remember to go to your website of choice via Give as You Live. https://bit.ly/cotdasyoulive

In the meantime please think and pray for success of all the children during this new school year.

Finally do please let us know what you think about the charity ( ) and particularly if you have any new ideas for fundraising or can offer more support

 

 

Kay Mackay
Chair of Children of the Dump

 

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Frederick Douglas