The Kalakal Boys of Estero de Paco

The Kalakal Boys refer to the children who scavenge a garbage dump site for any material (kalakal) that can later be sold to the junk shops. The Kalakal Boys have to sift through piles of refuse and garbages to find plastic bottles, wares, or anything that can still be of use.

In the Estero de Paco area, I have met several of the Kalakal Boys while on their usual job: scavenging the piles of garbages that have accumulated on top of the river. Aged seven to fifteen, the boys no longer go to school. Instead, they have to earn money by scavenging to support their families. A whole day of scavenging earns them some 60 pesos (about $1.40) which they divide among themselves.

I asked one of the Kalakal Boys why he stopped schooling and he said, "Walang pera, kuya! Ang tatay ko lasenggo, binubugbog nanay ko pag walang pang-inom. Kaya ako nangangalakal para may pang-inom ang tatay at di mabugbog ang nanay " (We don't have the money. My father is a drunkard who always beats my mother when she has nothing to give for his liquor. So I work to give my father some money so he will not beat her".)

Some of the boys told me that they also do this job to help feed their younger siblings, or to help in the family needs such as bigas (rice) or gulay (vegetables).

The Kalakal Boys seemed unaffected by the overwhelming dirt and maladorous stench that surround them. I have photographed the boys at close range and I stepped on the garbage itself, and I can attest that the stench has the combined odor of rotting carcasses, animal and human excrements, and everything rotten you can imagine. The dump area is also infested with rats, and swarms of flies and mosquitoes.

I asked the boys if the garbage and foul smell affect them at all and they answered: "Mabaho at madumi po talaga, pero sanayan na lang, Kuya" (Yes it's indeed very dirty and foul-smelling, but one gets used to it after some time).

Indeed, living everyday under these hideous conditions, one realizes the ability of the human body to adapt its senses to protect the body. This defense mechanism maybe only psychological because I found that some of the boys are already suffering from tuberculosis. And indeed, this world of garbage is a pitfall for malaria, asthma, dengue, typhoid, lead poisoning, and many other diseases and health hazards related to foul environment.

I just hope that soon our society will take note of these poor kids and offer some kind of help that could give them a chance to live decently and away from this rotting hell--before its too late.

The Estero de Paco (the river--well, it used to be a river once)







Searching for the kalakal