Living in survival mode in an urban slum
Next to a local dumpsite in Quezon City in the Philippines lies Ronita’s community. In the urban slums of the Philippines, many people live in survival mode and wish for a better life for their children.
Living in survival mode in an urban slum
Next to a local dumpsite in Quezon City in the Philippines lies Ronita’s community. In the urban slums of the Philippines, many people live in survival mode and wish for a better life for their children.
What happens to families who cannot afford medicine?
In communities like Ronita’s, where large numbers of families live in poverty, children often get sick with preventable diseases.
Those children then miss precious learning time in the classroom because their parents cannot afford the medicine and care they need to get well.
Your compassionate gift can deliver vital healthcare through clinics in communities that would otherwise not have access to a doctor.
The impact on Ronita's community
Education
Many Filipino children miss out on opportunities to escape poverty through education. This is especially the case if their parents can’t afford stationery and supplies and their parents didn’t finish school either.
Employment
A lack of education has impact on a person’s employment prospects. In the Philippines, currently, only around 46% of women over the age of 15 are in the labour force (World Bank 2022).
Health
Many community members in the urban slums of the Philippines live in poor sanitation, in confined and overcrowded spaces. This poses a huge risk of a variety of illnesses common to life in the slums. Many families don’t have access to a doctor or medical clinics.
“People drop out of school: they have projects that need scissors, paper, materials and the parents can’t afford it… There isn’t a culture in many places to encourage students to finish school, especially if their parents didn’t finish either.”
Average Australian earnings: about $234 per day
The average Australian daily earnings is about $234 per day, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Ronita's family's average earnings: $10 per day
Ronita’s husband would earn under $10 per day, according to Caritas Australia’s partners in the Philippines, the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ).
A snapshot of poverty in the Philippines
9%
was the teenage pregnancy rate in the Philipines in 2022. Comparatively, In Australia, the teenage pregnancy rate was only 1.5%.
37%
of the urban population were living in slums in the Philippines in 2018.
20 million
people in the Philippines live below the national poverty line in 2021. That's 18.1% of the population.
Your compassionate gift can support families like Ronitas living in urban slums to graduate from school and earn an income.
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