True Manila – Helping street kids in the Philippines
If you heading for the Philippines put besides all incredible islands also Manila on your bucket list. It is not even in particular the city but a local Filipino named Edwin Nombre Pamañan and this project True Manila that deserves to be high ranked on that list. His story is not a regular one and definitively worth sharing with the world.
– How the story begins –
Edwin grew up in San Andres Bukid, a small but highly populated district in Manila. Out here life was hard and as a child he often got exposed to things that you should not see at a young age.
San Andres Bukid – Manila – Philippines
– Life changing strangers –
It was somewhere in 1987 when Edwin was out in the streets and two foreigners passed by. Curious for these strangers he started to follow them through the streets of Manila. When the foreigners noticed that he did, they invited him into the house that they lived. This was the start of a priceless relationship. Almost every day the couple went out on the streets to look for him at the place where they had first met. To be able to communicate with each other they started to teach Edwin how to speak English.
As a local boy from the streets Edwin knew the city very well and he started to accompany the couple on a daily base with their mission to help poor people. This prevented him from committing wrong things, which was very common in area that he grew up. The strangers who once past by had now become what he called his “white parents”.
– True Manila was born –
Sadly the day had arrived that the couple left the Philippines and headed back to America. Despite the distance they kept supporting Edwin in educational needs. During period that he was following several studies, he kept approaching foreign people to see if he could help them. He just really liked helping others because this is what he had positively copied from his white parents. His dream was do what they had been doing but he needed to figure out how to realize this without any money. This resulted in 2011 in a project called True Manila, an informal guided tour that is taking batches of foreigners around the slums of Manila.
What you are about to experience out here is the real life of the locals that are living in these neighbourhoods. The reality is not hiding here for you…what you see is what you get. It is a free tour that Edwin created to show foreigners the true character of these places. If you are joining on a tour, it is your choice whether you want to offer assistance to the locals in needs. Edwin will take you out to the local market in centre of San Andres Bukid where he will buy food with the donated money. After that the food will be divided and you can hand it over in person to the locals that you visit within the community. This way you will know where your money goes and you will be catching all the glimpse of appreciations. If Edwin is not around his sister is running the project.
– Experiencing life in San Andres Bukid –
It was in 2011 when I first visited the Philippines. While hanging out in a hostel I got approached by Edwin. He took me to San Andres Bukid, where I joined in one of first batches of True Manila. It was overwhelmingly impressive to stroll through all the small corridors of the neighborhood.
After the tour I continued traveling through the Philippines but returned to Manila some weeks later. This is when Edwin offered me to experience his life for once and so that is what I did.
I slept for three nights with his entire family in their small house that was made out of wood. It was shocking to look outside the window during the nights as you could see the streets filled with children sleeping on cardboard boxes. Even though I was in the middle of a slum area, I never felt a second unsafe. The locals within this area were incredible friendly. No matter how hard life was for them, they seemed to smile all the time. After three days I ended this once in a lifetime experience by celebrating the New Year of 2012 with Edwin and the entire community of San Andres Bukid.
Edwin and I on the back of a Jeepney (2011)
– From sleeping in the streets to traveling –
Over the years many travellers joined the project and became part of the True Manila community. This is how it could happen that Edwin managed to travel throughout Europe in 2017 with almost no money in his pockets. All the connections he had made throughout the years by running the project of True Manila was now taking him from place to place. During this journey he also surprised me at my front door and stayed for a couple of days to explore life in the Netherlands. Later in that same year I went back to Philippines where I finally got reunited with San Andres Bukid and the True Manila project.
You can follow the community on Facebook @truemanila and send out a message if you are heading to Manila.
