A new perspective on slums
On the ground, slum communities can cause overwhelming emotions for those of us who live in the comfort of the “developed” world. Living in the Philippines I don’t have to go far to see a family sleeping on the sidewalk, children crossing dirty streets with bare feet and women bathing in buckets as modestly as they can on a sidewalk with heavy traffic flowing by.
Recently, I nervously sat on a plane as we approached our bumpy landing into Manila. I tentatively looked out of the window and saw how close we were flying over the slums occupying the coastal lands of Manila Bay just south of the city. It was a clear day and I felt as though I could touch the tin roofs of the houses. From my uniquely aerial perspective I felt like I was looking down over medieval European villages, with their organically-formed narrow streets in all directions, their jumble of roofs and, most of all, their central town square.
As we descended further, I realized that what looked like remote Italian piazzas were actually community basketball courts occupying central spaces in the slums. Among many things brought here by the American’s, basketball has become one of the most popular Filipino sports. Like Northern Spain’s Jai-Alai courts in the main plazas of Basque Country villages, basketball has formed the center of public life in many Filipino communities. I could see people shooting hoops and others cheering them on in a rich and close-knit life playing out below me. Then I remembered life on the ground, with overcrowded rooms that lack security, access to safe water and protection from the elements.
When I emerged from the airport into the reality of Manila’s frenzied ground plane I thought back to my surreal experience of seeing Manila’s slums from above. Many contrasting perspectives push their way into my path everyday here. I feel fortunate to have experienced this aerial perspective of a place where life is so grounded in the everyday need for survival.
Note: The photo above is a Google Earth view over the coastline of Manila Bay, identical to my view from the plane. In the top left are strange clouds hovering over the bay; in the middle are rice fields with houses settled along a waterway; and in the bottom right is the edge of the slums.
posted by Carlamanya at 10:29 p.m.
3 Comments:
Interesting comparison. Makes me wonder what the insides of the houses in European villages are like - maybe not as romantic as they seem?
Daddy-O
ok - got 2 months behind on the blog but i love it and i am all caught up now :)
what i have been wondering about, here at home in my comfy life in TO, short of $ though i may be, is what is an appropriate, useful response to seeing the overwhelming poverty of a slum? not guilt, though that is something i feel, when i think about the difference between "broke" for me, and for someone who lives without things i consider basic human rights let alone amenities. i have been thinking about all the many well meaning people who travel to somewhere else in the world to help people, and what it is that makes it easier to help people who are far away versus those close to us (there are slums in northen ontario and alberta - they are reservations). i don't have answers yet, but i am thinking about this.
what kind of aid is helpful, and what kind of aid is really only a bandaid that makes the person applying it feel like they are doing something and the person receiving it feel a momentary reprieve at best, or powerful jealousy and fury at the unacknowledged priviledge inherent in the interaction, at worst. long runon sentence!
i am helping a friend with her book on people doing good works and why and how, and this is what it is doing to my friday night thoughts..
~haya
Thanks for your thoughts, Haya. I think this is a subject that any thoughtful person engaged in this kind of work has thought about and struggled with.
I’m reminded of a conversation I had over the holidays with my two travel companions (doing similar work in Manila) and an Israeli guy traveling around Asia. He expressed his concern about people going to the other side of the world to help people while there are many people facing the same struggles at home. He said it as though he was the first person to ever have this revelation. He said it as though we had never thought of it before, as though we were going around the world thinking that we’re altruistic do-gooders without a care in the world for social problems back home.
Our responses were all the same: We have no illusions about our limited capacity to help abroad, about our motivations, or about similar struggles back home. Yes, we are very motivated to help people in need, but we are also motivated by selfish reasons of self-exploration in a foreign context, a non-tourist experience of another country, all the personal and professional challenges it raises, etc. He didn’t say more about this after that because I think he hadn’t expected such an honest answer.
During our pre-departure orientation session in Toronto, our facilitator told us about an interesting study: various overseas NGOs were asked if their volunteer/intern/consultant from a “developed” nation had made a noticeable difference to their organization and projects. Most NGOs said no, but also said that it was a rewarding cross-cultural experience. I think the only real and potentially lasting impact I've made here is making the connection between my host NGO (with all its co-op housing development experience) and the CLAN co-op group (see Feb27 post). This means that after my short time here is over their project will still proceed with entirely Filipino efforts. Sure, my report might help with funding applications or other phases of the project, but I feel it’s secondary to the encouragement of local partnerships.
My biggest issue with this sector is the fact that every country has the people-power to do this work themselves without our personnel intervention. I’m conscious of the fact that the money used to send me here could fund a Filipino to do the same work; hell, it could fund more than one. I struggled with this for many years before I finally decided to apply and grab this opportunity. I’m also conscious of the fact that there are bigger policies at work that keep the world economy operating in its current unequal fashion. Am I perpetuating it? Maybe. Am I learning more about it? Yes.
I believe that part of the Canadian government’s motivation to fund this intern program is so that what we learn abroad can be applied to similar issues back home (aside from getting to say that they’re living up to their international development obligations!) I believe this is true for many people, because sometimes it takes going far away to see what’s right beside you.
I know that whatever I do after this will be effected by my time here, by what I’ve seen and by the people I’ve met. I also know that I have grown personally from this unique experience. It’s a complex and multi-faceted issue; thanks for raising it.
Mucho amor mi hermana-prima!
Cahla.
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