PAYATAS TRIBES

Just outside the city of Manilla, Philippines, there is a huge garbage dump. On this dump live the Payatas tribes. They make their living by sorting through the trash and finding anything of use.

To provide these tribes with a better way of making a living, a missionary team has set up a livlihood project. They have taught the Payatas tribes how to handcraft greating cards. They gather local wild flowers and press and dry them. The paper is handmade out of rice grass and then embossed with wooden blocks. After the paper has dried, they take the wild flowers and create a handcrafted work of art.

The cards are sold here in the US through various churches and organizations and the proceeds go back to the Payatas tribes.
(The cards can be ordered to the right.)

More pictures below (click for a larger image):

Coming into the Payatas area.

 

Some children playing in front of their home. Their home is a shack made from the garbage.

 

A store in the Payatas area.

 

In the Payatas settlements, there is no sewage system. All waste runs above ground.