TWO UNIVERSITY GRADUATES have highlighted the success of a project aiming to give children from the "scrap heap" the chance to make a better future for themselves.
Yolanda Versoza and Caridad Marquez, who were awarded their degrees in Manila, are the latest triumphs of a ten-year program helping families from one of the world's most infamous squatter towns.
Until recently both 25-year-olds lived with their families at Smokey Mountain, a 20,000-strong settlement on one of the Philippine capital's largest garbage dumps where most people made a living from searching through the trash for items to sell.
They were able to complete their studies - Versoza in computer science, Marquez in teaching - thanks to a sponsorship program run by Youth With A Mission, which has been working among the community since the early 1980s.
Supporters from the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan donated more than $57,000 last year to pay for tuition fees and school supplies, uniforms, books and other materials for 750 children and teenagers from shanty homes in the area.
"Education is a tool that can help children fight poverty, by improving their prospects for the future - but for many it is simply out of their reach," said Christina Ancheta, who leads the YWAM work with her husband, Rudy. "Parents just aren't able to afford the cost of schooling. They have no savings and just live day to day from what they can make scavenging."
Overseas sponsors pay between $55 and $350 a year - according to the level of schooling - to enable the youngsters to attend classes, with YWAM workers also offering tuition help in the evenings and at weekends.
The tenth year of the sponsorship program saw the largest intake so far, but also the highest drop-out rate. More than 100 children failed to complete the school calendar - as a consequence of other attempts to improve their situation.
During the past nine months, the government has closed Smokey Mountain - so named because the rubbish spontaneously combusts - and dispersed families to three resettlement sites around Manila, while the tip is leveled and new homes built.
But the move meant some families were unable to afford to send their children back to their classes nearer Smokey Mountain, in the Balut area of the city. "It was really disappointing that so many were unable to continue," said Ancheta.
In addition to the student sponsorship program, YWAM is also involved in health care and evangelism among the slum communities.
Last updated: 1996, July 21 /pf