Photo Essay : Living Amid Squalor on Edge of Society

They are about 15,000 strong now and live in ramshackle shanties on Smokey Mountain, a massive festering garbage dump in the Tondo area of north Manila. Whole families live there. Children are born there among rivers that carry disease and filth. The key to survival is the “fresh garbage” that arrives daily. The residents scramble barefoot through flies and human waste to scavenge for usable items such as plastic containers, newspapers, pieces of steel or copper, bottles and tin cans that they sell to survive. Last year, the Swiss Tropical Institute reported that residents of Smokey Mountain have the highest death rate in the Philippines. Nearly every child was found to have intestinal parasites and two-thirds if the infants suffered malnutrition. Incidents of birth defects are high. Ambitious government plans to close the 15-year old dump site have been deferred for lack of funds.