Poverty Stricken Families and Communities
We are passionate about working with families and assisting families to help themselves out of poverty. We believe in supporting the community with our holistic programmes.
Philippines
We work in the Philippines with the poorest of the poor, families living and working in slum areas without a reliable source of income.
In 2002 our work centred around communities who lived and worked as waste pickers on the cities land fill sites. Since 2015 the government has evicted residents from the dump sites and is gradually relocating families from the squatter areas where we work to live in low-cost housing in faraway resettlement areas. This has meant families gain improved housing but lose their livelihoods. We follow the families to the relocation sites and set up centres where they live, to provide food, health care, education, and business loans to help families earn their own money and give them the opportunity to rebuild their lives.
However, there are still 6,700 families who are not part of the relocation plan and remain homeless, squatting on government land, living in makeshift shanties without running water, sanitation, or a safe electrical connection. Both situations mean that children and families are extremely vulnerable and without external help are unable to thrive and, in some case, survive.
Understanding the Need
The majority of families in the communities supported by UFI are considered to be the poorest of the poor and survive on a meal to meal basis, many eating leftovers from restaurants, their biggest challenges is where their next meal is coming from and how to keep their families safe.
Families live in makeshift shanties, the size of a small bathroom, water is only available in the evenings making it difficult for families to safely store their water during the day.
Many adults struggle to find work, the majority of the adults earn a living from recycling from the cities waste making it challenging for families to earn sufficient money to meet even their most basic needs.
