Today these children ate once. They ate pag pag.
Pag Pag literally means to "shake the dirt off"
-To shake dirt, maggots and stuff from the food you are about to eat....
Pag Pag is left over food, recycled and eaten again. It's some body else's waste food.Some one else's garbage.
It costs around 5p a bag and is the staple of many of the children we work with.
Food. Something so simple.
Ron reminded me of an incident that happened way back when we had just started the kids club at the dump site.
We brought PVA glue in to do an art activity. The room erupted with excited screams.I guessed the children were happy to be doing crafts again.The enthused sea of big brown eyes locked onto the glue and waited with anticipation as we opened it.
"Gatas, Gatas" (MILK_ MILK)
Oh no! They thought it was milk!! I felt so awful. That moment was a trigger for us to feel the urgency to start some kind of feeding programme. There was only one issue.We had no funds to start one, but still we felt like it was something God was asking us to step out in faith and just do.We were reminded of when God asked Moses "what do you have in your hand"? In other words- what did he have?Moses old rod might not have seemed like much to anyone else, but when he obeyed God and stepped out in faith- God done mighty things through it.
So we asked ourselves what we could do? What did we have?
At that time we had enough to buy a big box of crackers and some powdered orange juice. So we would buy them and take them to kids club each Saturday. Every week chaos broke out as we tried to make the snacks fit around all the children. Quite often we would have to half them in 2 just so everyone could at least get something!
Many of the children we work with eat one small meal a day. It would usually consist of rice covered in soya sauce or maybe come with a small dried fish on the side. For some of the children its just normal to go without any food for 2-3days. One of the shocking things I learned was that infants grew so hungry they would even been seen eating mud and cockroaches. It broke our hearts, how much more did it break the heart of the God who created them? We began to pray with urgency about developing the feeding. After a few weeks of crackers, we were able to then serve chocolate rice- then soup- the porridge with a little chicken- then full meals of rice, meat and vegetables.
I will never forget the first time we saw food multiply.
It was our first year at the dump site and we decided to throw a party. We expected around 200 children. Games were planned and a big pot of spaghetti and bread cooked. We arrived early to set up to find hundreds of children waiting at the gates of the old warehouse that we now call church. What could we do? We didn't have enough food to feed them all and we couldn't turn them away either.
We had food for 200. The head count came to 600 plus!
So we prayed.
The wonderful mummy volunteers from the dump site community began to dish out the spaghetti. They were a little panicked to say the least! In all honestly so were we, but we trusted God would help us out. He did.
The pot of spaghetti that was meant to feed 200, fed every child a good sized portion with enough left for staff and volunteers. I know some people reading this may say "phft! what a load of nonsense" but I am telling you the truth. I believe God multiplied that big pot of spaghetti to fill all the hungry bellies. Why wouldn't He?
I believe he has multiplied food on many an occasion. There have been times that we have had more children than food and yet they have been fed. Coincidence? I don't think so. I think God loves them so much they he didn't want them to go away still feeling hungry. Why has He not multiplied food at every feeding session? Why sometimes do we get to the end of the long line of faces and have to tell them there is no more? I don't know. It is the worst feeling to tell hungry children there is no more food.
My heart fills with thanks to Jesus as I can write that the Kalayaan Community Ministries team are now able to feed on average 1570 full meals every week. This does not include all the extra "mirendas" (snacks of bread and extras) that are served at various activities.All glory to God and we thank him for providing through the kindness of our partners.
But you know, it's still not enough and I hope that doesn't sound ungrateful. But when you are eye to eye with beautiful children that are so hungry that some of them sniff glue to try and kill the hunger- the truth is no matter how many you have fed that day- it has not been enough.
Our amazing feeding team are all mothers from the Tondo and Navotas Community and we are so blessed by the way they prepare healthy meals. They live within the communities that they also serve and they know that the children rarely eat fruit and veg and so they cook what will be filling and what is also good for the children.
This is a typical meal of what is served:
Rice, meat, veg, fruit and clean water.
This meal of pork, veg, rice, watermelon and water cost P11 (17pence)
Recently a mother came to us and told us that if it were not for our feeding her children would hardly ever eat.That particular week her children had not eaten for 3 days. This is not me over dramatizing or trying to make you sad enough to give. I'm sad to say this is just a fact.
Thank you so so much to everyone who faithfully partners with us to make the feeding programs possible.If you feel you could sponsor more meals or just want more info please mail kalayaancommunityministries@hotmail.com
(above are some of the feeding team- warrior mams from the dump site area who faithfully buy ingredients, cook serve and clean up at every feeding session. They see it as a ministry, and that is exactly what it is.Yes the food is vital- completely, but we also want the children to know with every plate of food given that we care, but more importantly Jesus cares.
We love these women and the others who are dedicated to helping their own community)
