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As part of UNI-Global's commitment for advocating our generation on social awareness, Payatas, a local community located within Old Balara, Quezon City, Philippines was chosen as beneficiary for this year's outreach program. This activity aims to develop the awareness on the participants about poverty that these locals have to go through for their survival. UNI PLC Youth did a presentation about the current situation on the day before the outing, to give participants an idea about how the community looks. Adequate reminders and planning was done to ensure the smooth flow of program to avoid any peril.

Participants instructed to assemble at 6am in the morning to depart from the hotel. The youth group was divided into two and was able to reach Old Balara by 7am in the morning. We were warmly welcomed by the locals lead by their Chief Captain, Brother Allan.

Upon reaching the community, participants volunteered to visit the houses and to reach out to the families in the area. In line of these, participants were able to collect their stories that made us reflect in our daily lives. From many of their stories, below are some chosen real life stories of them.

First one is the story of Nanang Anna. The total area of her house is about 10x15 square meters. She is living there with her husband and nine kids. They earns their living by selling vegetables and none of her kids attend school because they have to assist her in order to survive. According to Nanang Anna, their average income is about 60-80 pesos per day.

Our second interviewee, Ate Virgie as she was fondly called does live together with her four kids and husband. Her husband is disabled; he cannot use his leg. However, due to his love for his family, he was able to find a way to earn a living. He rides a tricycle, a mode of local transportation in the Philippines, with the help of his son.

The last story which worth sharing, is the story of Nanay. Upon entering their house she enthusiastically entertained and introduced us to her children. She has five children. We exchanged few questions and we got to know that her husband left her barely two months before. She burst into tears while sharing her story with us. As her husband abandon their family for another woman, she had to send one of her kids for adaptation as she realized that she couldn’t afford her kids living. When we say goodbye to her family, she smiled and thanked us for our good gesture on supporting their livelihood.

Before going to Payatas, we believed that they are only going to extend helping hand. Upon learning these circumstances that encircle this community, all participants were able to appreciate life and simple things that goes through their daily lives. The families we visited taught us how to be resilient amidst these challenges, how to be enthusiastic when all hopes seem gone and how to value the things that we often took for granted. Indeed, these are the priceless learning’s and we are thankful to the community of Old Balara.