Amoxicillian Blanket

Wednesday afternoon Lindsay and I got a ride to the Catholic University here in Cebu and met a tall, thin, blonde, pale German man named Father Heinz. As you can imagine, he sticks out here like a sore thumb. We accompanied Father Heinz and a seminary student from Chile, Sergio, to one of the dump sites in Cebu. Father Heinz visits the dumps every day (rotating to different sites) and administers basic health check ups, distributes medication and hands out crackers to the children. We all crowded into the back of a truck/van and stuffed in five or six large boxes full of pediatric medications, vitamins and crackers. It will be difficult to describe everything we saw but I'll give it a shot! (As a side note, next week I'll be able to upload PICTURES!).

When we arrived at the dump site we were immediately bombarded by small children. They climbed all over the van, jumped up and down and yelled for Father Heinz. When we got out of the car everyone immediatley lined up. The children got in one line for snacks and the mothers (with children in arms) got in another line for medical attention. So many things shocked me about the place it's hard to list them all. For starters, the children (and adults) are absolutely filthy. Their faces, legs and feet are covered in dirt and dust. Their fingernails are black. Additionally, most of their hair is a lighter color than the average dark haired filipino. This is due to extreme malnutrtion. The majority of the children are dressed in old, ripped clothes. The babies don't have diapers and the majority of the children don't have any underwear at all. The risk for infection is huge.

I got to assit Fr. Heinz with the medical exams. The average temperature of the children there is about 102 degrees. Most children presented with ear infections, topical infections, fungus, diharhea and general malnutrition. I got to listen to some of their lungs and it was far worse than anything I could imagine. The sound through the stethescope was beyond crackling, it sounded like someone struggling to breathe with half or more of their air supply cut off. This is due to the rampant TB spread as well as the dust and debris they live in.

Nearly every child was given Amoxicillan, Vitamin C and some bisquits. This will hold them over for a few days until Fr. Heinz has to come back to do it all over again. He cannot improve lives there merely just keep them going.

After we finished distributing meds and checkups we ventured into the "neighborhood." The people have built little huts atop mounds and mounds of compacted trash. There were small fires burning everywhere and children running around in the dark. It was harder for me to take much in during this time because I was so fearful of stepping on something or losing my way. We passed by a TV with the sound blaring playing "Isn't it hard to see, we're in Heaven." How ironic. We moved further along and visited a few of the people who were too sick of frail to make it for the checkups. We saw one woman who looked about 70 years old. She was frail, squatting, voice crackling and emaciated. We found out she is 24 and dying of AIDS. She just delivered a baby but is too sick to care for it and the neighbors (aka on the other side of the cardboard box) are taking care of it.

We left after spending a total of two hours at the site. My mind was filled with questions. I saw two pregnant women and multitudes of children. 2500 people live atop this trash and based on the reproduction rate this population will keep on enduring. Most of these people never leave the dump site. This is their reality and it will remain a part of Cebu most likely forever. I will get pics up next week so this will make more sense.