Smokey Mountain is a large garbage dump in Manila. It is also home to roughly 30,000 people squatting on the dump. Whether or not trash is still actively dumped into the area is debated. It has been operational for more than 40 years and has been know to randomly catch fire, killing numerous people, and earning its name.
The people living there are there for work. They sort through the garbage looking for anything they can scavenge and resell. There are also schools, day cares, clinics, etc, that make it more like a normal neighborhood. There are a lot of NGOs and companies working together to make life better in this area. Some have tried moving people to a different location, just to find that a few months later, new squatter communities spring up.
Incredibly shocking, repulsive, and heart-breaking to see, especially since all the people we met were so welcoming and friendly. Everyone in the pictures below has lived in Smokey Mountain their entire life.
This is all garbage. And apparently this is much, much better than it was.
This is the Field of Dreams, a flattened section of the dump where the kids play organized sports.
Goverment housing built roughly 10 years ago. There are about 20-30 buildings like this in Smokey Mountain, each with about 120 units. Each unit houses one family (Mom, Dad, Kids, Wives, Husbands, Grandchildren, Nieces, Nephews, etc)
Cute school children in front of the school we visited.
Three of the women who showed us around and welcomed us to Smokey Mountain. They were so friendly, happy, and smiley.
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