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The parish priest at Smokey Mountain sees
opportunities for its residents outside of picking through trash.
Fr. Benigno Beltran, however,
believes the right attitude and vision are needed. First, people
have to be convinced that there are viable alternatives, he said.
This, Beltran added, is exactly what they are trying to do through
their projects.
“We currently have three
projects: building what we call an environmental church, the first
of its kind in the world; and the e-learning and e-trading
programs.”
The priest said the construction
of this environmental church will help residents learn how to
improve their living conditions by teaching them how to protect the
environment.
The new church was also planned
to feature solar panels, a rain catchment system and waterless composting
toilets. Beltran is also eyeing the use of coconut oil-based diesel
fuel for the church’s generators.
The church structure was designed
in such a way that it could use some 200,000 hollow blocks mixed
with old computer parts and other residual wastes as materials. The
church roof will be used as a greenhouse for growing vegetables, an
earlier report said.
The planned five-story building
will not only be a place of worship but will also promote economic
activities among Smokey Mountain residents, with the basement
serving as venue for programs designed to promote such activities.
“We also have an e-learning
school that caters to the out-of-school youth. The instruction is
computer-based. About a hundred are currently enrolled in the
school, where they learn Math, English, and Science on computers,”
Beltran said.
“Adults are also being trained
in our program called e-trading network. Through this project, we
train them to market certain goods that we can sell through the
Internet,” he added.
Besides this, several other
church-based and cause-oriented groups have launched their programs
that aim to uplift the lives of the residents living in the area
that used to be one of the largest dumps in the world.
The Sambayanan ng Muling
Pagkabuhay Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which was established in 1991,
now provides employment to some residents, who were trained to make
recycled paper bags. The cooperative, besides the paper bag store,
also manages a bakery, a water station and a garment store.
“The jobs generated through the
businesses being operated by the cooperative definitely help some of
the residents earn some money,” said Lolit Gatpolintan, treasurer
of the cooperative.
Beltran said many people have
learned to do other things.
“Before, I can say that about
80 percent of the people here are dependent on garbage. Now, it was
down to 15 percent,” he said, adding that “many took on jobs
such as selling goods in public markets and carrying loads in
ports.”
Salvacion Bago, a longtime Smokey
Mountain resident, recognizes the fact that their condition got a
bit better since garbage dumping was stopped and families were given
housing units by the government.
She said she was personally
contented with what they have right now—a more secure place to
live in.
Before, anybody can just enter
your house and hurt you, she said in Pilipino. But now, she said
people feel safer because “we have concrete walls for our
homes.”
Beltran said, “These
cooperatives and other organizations help them earn money so that
they can buy their needs and pay for their bills. We want these
people to be able to pay the housing units that the national
government provided them.” He added that they would help in every
way possible to improve the lives of the 3,000 families living in
this area.
Recently, the Asian Development
Bank, through its Poverty and Environment Program, provided support
for the implementation of the Smokey Mountain Remediation and
Development Project.
The project aims to improve the
quality of life and livelihood of the 30,000 residents in the Smokey
Mountain area through the identification of a cost-effective
remediation program for Smokey Mountain that will provide long term
protection for the community and the environment; demonstration of a
sustainable public-private partnership mechanism for the
implementation of an effective ecological solid waste management
program; and development of employment and other livelihood
opportunities for the poor through activities associated with the
establishment of the materials recovery facilities.
--Rommel C. Lontayao
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