What We Do
Children of The Dump works with the poorest families in Manila to help transform their children’s lives.
- The children who are helped live in the areas around the barrios of Payatas and San Isidro, now the site of the largest rubbish dump in Manila. This is a city of over 13 million people in the Philippines.
- Hundreds of people scavenge these dumps daily to find food scraps and rubbish that can be sorted by hand and sold for recycling.
- Families struggle to earn enough for a single daily meal. Their tiny, flimsy homes are shacks without mains water or drainage right beside the stinking and filthy dumps with the rats and insects. Homes often flood during the monsoons.
- This is an unforgiving sweltering tropical environment swarming with flies that is dangerous and no place for children. Normally children help out on the dump as soon as they are able because there is no money for child care or schooling.
- Some inhabitants have been moved away from the Dumps to new concrete shell communities on the very edge of the city. Unfortunately there are no jobs, services or cheap transport options to allow these displaced families to earn a living her or nearby so the Charity also supports children here.
- There are 3 children's charity programmes for different children with different needs who need regular sponsorship. Find out more below.
Introductory video about the charity work in Manila
Life on the dump
Scavengers pay to get access to the dump and they then search through the rubbish trying to avoid the rats or getting cut and scratched by sharp objects.
Sponsor a child, Manila
There are 3 ways children are supported.
All 3 sponsorship programmes are about schooling for children and transforming young lives through education. This helps save children from poverty and become adults able to lead full and independent lives away from the cycle of poverty around the Dump.
Cashew Early Years
Offers a free meal and a half days education for up to 100 children aged 4 to 6 years old, just like Joshua*. Joshua is safe and gets a great grounding from professional teachers which means that after 2 years he will be ready to go into full time education at Elementary school.
To find how you can help a child like Joshua get a great start click below
Grapevine Outreach
More than 60 families receive a small amount of financial support which is just enough to allow children like Maria* to attend local schools . Without this boost Maria would be helping her parents working on the Dump to help scratch a living to pay for food. Maria also benefits from extra educational support and the services of a social worker.
You can transform the life of a child like Maria by clicking below
Mango Tree House
A residential home for 50 children who can not safely remain where they are or have no family or home such as Mary Grace*. These children have had painful starts in life but now receive everything that a loving parent would want as well as in-house education and social work support. Children will remain here until they have completed their education.
See how you can ensure that children like Mary can escape the Payatas Dump by clicking below
How Children of The Dump changes lives through education
- Children of the Dump works in The Philippines with a local charity partner who manage the projects and also raise funds locally. Teachers and social workers in Manila are carefully selected fully trained and qualified Filipino professionals.
- As a small charity Children of the Dump is proud that over 80% of funds raised go directly to Manila to fund activities.
- The charity has over 40 years of successful work behind it which means that we have learned what works best but we need your support .
"Grapevine really had helped me a lot financially, emotionally, and spiritually."
Francis
A Student of Grapevine