***  Transforms  lives  by  turning  rubbish  into  topend  fashion  items  ***

  In  the  midst  of  the  Philippines'  most  notorious  slum,  British  expat  Jane  Walker  transforms  lives  by  turning  rubbish  into  topend  fashion  items.

  A  unique  four-story  building  houses  the  Philippine  Christian  Foundation,  an  organisation  Walker  founded  16  years  ago  to  help  scavengers  at  the  Smokey  Mountain  garbage  dump  in  Manila's  chaotic  bayside  Tondo  district.

   Walker  teaches  mothers  to  make  colourful  bags,  purses  and  jwellery  using  items  commonly  discarded  by  the  public - from  toothpaste  tubes,  plastic  bottles  and  lollypop  rappers  to  magazine  pages  and  soft  drink  cans.

  "It's  inspiring  when  you  realise  such  a  simple  project  helps  so  many  families,  " Walker,  48,  told  AFP.

  " We  design  things  from  laptop  bags  and  iPod  cases,  computer  cases,  all  ranges  of  different  handbags,  shopping  bags,  clutch  bags ,  fashion  accessories  and  even  place  mates  made  from  waste  paper."

  The  products  are  sold  in  the  country's  biggest  department  store  chain,  as  well  as  to  highend  and  specialty  shops  in  Australia,  Canada,  Hong  Kong,  Japan,  the  Middle  East  and  Singapore,  with  price  tags  ranging  from  10  to  100  dollars.

  A  portion  of  the  proceeds  goes  to  the  mothers  and  the  staff,  while  the  rest  is  used  to  finance  the  foundation's  operations.

  Apart  from  teaching  livelihood  skills,  Walker's  foundation  also  runs  a  primary  school  where  up  to  500  slum  children  are  enrolled  at  any  given  time  free  of  charge.

  The  building  in  itself  is  remarkable  and  true  to  the  foundation's  recycling  mantra.

  It  is  made  from  shipping  containers  welded  and  cemented  together  in  what  Walker  says  is  the  first  such  structure  housing  a  school  anywhere  in  the  world.

  Charlita  Carceno,  a  51-year-old  mother  whose  three  children  are  enrolled  at  the  school,  said  Walker  enabled  her  to  dream  of  one  day  finally  leaving  the  dumps.

  For  Walker,  reflections  such  as  those  by  Carceno  are  the  reasons  she  keeps  on  going.

         by- AFP 


 

 
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