Animals in Malta are better off than some people in Manila, according to Francesca Agius-Vadalà, who has just returned from the Philippines’ capital.
Some sleep under the kitchen counter on a piece of cardboard
“A family of six with their chicken and all would sleep squashed in a tiny hut made of junk... and some are even constrained to sleep under the kitchen counter on a piece of cardboard,” the 27-year-old says as she recounts her three-week stay in the city.
Ms Agius-Vadalà stayed in a small convent of the Sisters of St Dorothy, who help poor families get back on their feet.
The Sisters of St Dorothy is an international institution that focuses mainly on education, with Dorotheans spread across the world, including Peru, Brazil, Portugal and the UK.
In 2002, two Maltese nuns left the island to found a new community in the Philippines.
Ten years later, Ms Agius-Vadalà, her cousin Maria Elena Grech and friend Louisa Serge headed to Manila.
Ms Agius-Vadalà had already been to Brazil and heard numerous stories about the Philippines from her aunt Sr Celia Agius-Vadalà, but nothing prepared her for what she saw in the flooded city during monsoon season.
“The rain poured down constantly and, by the end of the week, hundreds of families had nothing left... They had to start all over again,” she says, shaking her head.
The villagers build their tiny huts on the riverbank out of anything they can find.
“And to make things worse, the place is hot and humid – our clothes took three days to dry – but once you get drenched you feel cold, and the nuns prepare some warm food for those who abandon their flooded huts and seek shelter in the parish church,” she says.
Some slept there overnight because they had nowhere else to go.
But the St Dorothy Sisters’ work does not stop there. Sr Annie Catania runs a feeding programme equipping some 60 mothers and their children with skills that could help them earn a living.
While the children take English, crafts and other lessons, their mothers are taught cross stitch and embroidery and their finished products are sold in a bazaar at the St Dorothy’s convent in Mdina.
They have also set up a small kitchen where they bake cakes and make lollipops to sell on the streets.
Their children are showered, given daily nutritious meals and weighed monthly as part of the programme.
The nuns’ work is supported by Maltese people and they hope they will one day be able to build brick houses for the community.
In the meantime, volunteers like Ms Agius-Vadalà and her friends lend a helping hand. Before they went to Manila this July, the three women collected money to build a children’s playground.
And Ms Agius-Vadalà is already looking forward to her next visit.
“The place reeks of poverty but the people are happy with the simplest things.
“There’s dirt everywhere, and children running around naked... but looking at the photos we took in Manila, there isn’t a single person who is not smiling.”
She adds that the experience has helped her reflect on practices that she once took for granted.
“At home you wouldn’t think twice about throwing away a bottle with some ketchup at the bottom... but in Manila some children haven’t even tried chocolate yet.
“When you go there, you have to keep in mind that you cannot change their way of life. The most important thing is that you show them you care to listen to them.
“We might not have understood each other – most of the time we used gestures and pictures – but showing them that you’ve come from abroad just for them means the world to them.”
The sisters’ work can be followed on the Facebook Group SSD Philippines and people can donate money in BOV account number 18208305010, on Sr Celia Agius-Vadalà or Sr Annie Catania.