By Thomas Bell - Telegraph.co.uk
Children who used to sift refuse on a huge Filipino rubbish dump are receiving an education, and even ballet classes, with the help of a British woman.
Jane Walker, 44, a single mother from Southampton who received an MBE in last month’s Birthday Honours list, has established a school for children who live on the vast tip in the centre of Manila.
Her dream is to eradicate child labour at the site, where families struggle to survive by scavenging for anything that can be recycled from the foul swamp of stinking rubbish generated by a city of 15million people.
In narrow alleys on its margins, desperate families live in flimsy shacks. Some have lived this life for 40 years, the approximate life expectancy here. “We all take risks with our health,” said Miss Walker. “Everyone gets sick.”
Click here to read more.
Photo from Telegraph.co.uk
