July 2006 Archives

May 4, 2003: Manila

I caught my little friend Frederick during a pensive moment, right where his Family sleeps in the Ermita District - literally on this sidewalk where he's standing in the image.

Although I never managed to catch him smiling in my still images, I do have mini DV footage of him running around laughing & playing with his friends there on the sidewalk - so he does have a great smile.

PJAMES

April 24, 2003: Manila

This image & the image below are the first times I photographed little Frederick - the photos show him being shy at first (I don't think he was used to anyone taking his picture) but he enjoyed seeing his photos on the Olympus E10 digicam, and I saw him as a very happy child that day, even though he's living on the street.

More about him in the post below.

PJAMES

April 24, 2003

I met little Frederick and his Family (Mother & infant brother) in Metro Manila where they all sleep on the street - his Mother vends cigarettes & candy during the day, and they literally sleep on cardboard mats within a makeshift cardboard box.

What amazed me is that his Mother was always showing me photos of Frederick's graduation & Diploma from his school - even through they all slept on the street, she was able to keep him in school...I was stunned!

Later in Nov.2003 when I returned to Manila I gave Frederick & his Mother the photo above, and they were so happy to recieve it....they were still living on the street, but Mama & the kids were always smiling & very close.

PJAMES

I'm going to begin posting again to trekearth.com and their sister site treklens.com - and will be including some new images there over the next few months, so please stop by if you can.

My trekearth.com images will also follow the theme of my images here on Project Rice, where my treklens.com postings will concentrate on travel photography in general.

click here to see my images on www.trekearth.com

Best Regards,
PJAMES

My image above 'cupcake expressions' from Cebu Philippines is being published next month in a promotional booklet by Population Media Center, a Vermont USA based NGO:

please visit: www.populationmedia.org

populationmedia.org "works throughout the world, employing principles of entertainment-education to develop and broadcast long-running serial radio dramas that positively impact the lives of the listeners."

They are currently compiling a booklet that includes examples from the storylines of several of their programs, including one called "Sa Pagsikat Ng Araw" which aired in the Philippines from July through December of last year, and are using my image above to illustrate that program.

My thanks to Kathryn Tobin at Population Media Center for her interest in my photography.

PJAMES

The kids on the Island are just wonderfull - always happy, always celebrating life.

PJAMES

Jan. 8, 2006: Bantayan

Shiemiuzel's Family struggles everyday to make ends meet (they fish for a living) living a simple life in a simple one room wood & bamboo home by the sea.

All of the 6 children help out with the daily chores of washing clothes & cleaning the house, and preparing food (there's a simple grill outside where they fire up dried coconut wood to cook fish & RICE), along with looking after their younger brothers & sisters....it's a very close & loving Family, and they're all a joy to be around, even though it's a hard life for them.

Along with the food I bring them, I'm going to try to get the kids some newer school clothes in Nov. 2006 (all of their clothes are aged hand-me-downs and they can really use some new ones) SandMan & Shiemiuzel's school age brothers & sisters are all in school, and they come home on their lunch hour to help cook their food, and help their Mother out before heading back to class.

PJAMES

March 1, 2006: Bantayan

Shiemiuzel's older brother JR - I call him "The SandMan", as he's always playing on the beach and always ends up completely covered in it.

I come down to see the Family at least once per day with food, and SandMan always joins me with his buddies for a soccer game in the sand, when he's not helping his family with the chores around the house.

It's a hard life there with his Family who fish for a living - their simple home is covered with a tarp to help keep the rain out, and has electricity and a few light bulbs - some simple old bamboo furniture but no running water, no TV or other amenities.

PJAMES

Jan. 27, 2006: Bantayan

Another of my favorite captures of Shiemiuzel.

The Kids in the Family always hear me ride up to their home, and come out to greet me - they're very polite & well mannered.

PJAMES

Poor, but happy.

It's always a very humbling experience being around children & their Families like these kids - I never get tired while shooting images like this one.

Many thanks for stopping by today to see these new images.

PJAMES

March 2006: Bantayan Island

My favorite of all my Bantayan Island images, and the backdrop for quoting the needs of the poor Families there, as told to me by Patricia Hudson from the USA, who's been a local resident & respected business owner there since 2004.

In March 2006 I was with Pat when I asked her to access the needs of the poor there, and soon after she began talking, I brought her my notebook and asked her to put it in writing.

I remember staring at what she was writing:
'...Children DIE here, from simple fever...'
'...Young women come to my house to ask me to help them buy medicine for their children...' (1,000 Pesos = about $20.00 US Dollars)

That day in March 2006, I pledged to Pat to bring whatever donations I could earmark for children's simple medicines there - to help those Families who come to her for aid, come November 2006 when I'll arrive.

NOTE: I'm totally dependant upon donors for this - if you can help, please do.

Please read Pat's complete quote here:

Feb. 11, 2005: Bantayan

Bonita's story & more images are below - in fact, the image below in the next post is one of my most favorite portraits - although her face communicates some of her sorrow.

PJAMES

Feb. 11, 2005: Bantayan

My first image of Bonita, and my favorite portrait of her - taken a block away from the local elementary school.

Her name is Bonita, and to look at her, you'd never realize there was anything wrong in her life, but locals would tell me (and we did confirm it) she has an 11 year-old daughter, that the state took away and placed in an Orphanage off Bantayan - somewhere in Cebu City, Philippines.

Apparantly, Bonita does not understand - or can not understand this, and she spends her days roaming the street by the local elementary school, searching for her daughter twice per day - lunchtime when the children go home for lunch, and 5pm when the school day ends...

Long before my http://www.projectrice.org became an official effort, I was using my own money to make sure Bonita had her meals during the days we saw her, and we even went shopping for Bonita & her new baby ChinChin in early 2006, putting together a gift package of dresses for Bonita & baby clothes for ChinChin; items they desparately needed.

Needless to say, she has never been able to locate her daughter - and is most likely suffering from some sort of a mental/medical condition - and since she is extremely poor, can not afford to see a doctor - or to obtain any medication, etc.

There is a tremendous need on Bantayan for people like Bonita, her baby & others that I am trying to get addressed there.

Thank you for reading this today.
PJAMES

Jan.28, 2006: Bantayan

Bonita & baby ChinChin wait for their meal at a small local roadside restaurant.

As we always do when we see Bonita, we invite her to a meal with us - and we like this restaurant for its BBQ chicken legs, soups, and they'll even make me scrambled eggs with chilies if there's no BBQ available.

This day we got Bonita her meal of chicken & fish head soup, with RICE.

When we did this for her, the owners smiled & even laughed a bit - which I found strange.
...they told me they too had given food to Bonita from time to time in an effort to help her, but then they stopped doing that - and I couldn't get a straight answer as to why.

PJAMES

Jan. 31, 2006: Bantayan

Finally, we're getting Bonita to join us for a meal of chicken, rice & Coca Cola more often now - she doesn't refuse quite as many times as she did last year; she's more familiar with us now I think.

Many times we'd see her when we were en route somewhere else & couldn't stop to sit with her - so I'd stop the bike and go to the closest local food stand, quickly order & pay for her lunch or dinner, then tell her it's OK to come over & eat, before I had to take off.

PJAMES

* UPDATE: Our friend Mylene in Manila just sent us this latest picture of little Gina (still living on the streets of Manila) - I was thrilled to get it, and she's changed so much from my Nov/Dec. 2005 images of her.

7 months separate these pictures, from my Nov. 2005 images of her below, and Mylene said she had to clean up Gina's face before taking the pictures (it's very hard for her to stay clean living on the sidewalk) - the first thing I said when I saw these was "wow...she looks great; her face is so clean!"

Mylene's a friend of our webmaster Steve Griffith, and she saw my images of Gina & thought she looked familiar, so I asked Steve to tell Mylene exactly where to find Gina...and she did.

I know I have many of Gina's images up on this site, and I'm going to move onto some other images, but I was just so happy to be able to see new pics of her from just a few weeks ago, that I wanted to share them here.

Thank you Mylene, and Thank You Steve,
PJAMES

Nov.27, 2005: Manila

Soon after I arrived in Manila I went to look for Gina & her Family, and found them near Pedro Gil St. - I brought her a nice 5x7 picture of her I'd taken in 2003, and some food & goodies from a local store (Gina doesn't get the chance to taste a Coca Cola, or a Cadbury Chocolate bar, or a pint of fresh milk, etc)

Her Mama was with her as always, but not her Father - I didn't see him the entire time I was in Manila, but what has not changed is that most of what they own is inside a zippered bag in the foreground of the top image - some clothes, and the blankets & tarp they sit & sleep on.

PJAMES

I'm back going through my image files today, and it occured to me that I should really be telling the Project Rice story in some sort of chronological order from 2003, through present day.

I'm going to be looking at how best to do just that, but at the same time I'm still editing my image files from Nov. 2005 through March 2006 in Philippines, and I also want to make viewers aware of those latest images - so please excuse me from time to time if I seem to be jumping around the 2003-2006 timeline with newer images & stories; there's just lots of images I want to share, and many stories to be told.

I hope to be able to have most, if not all the 2006 images up by Oct/Nov. 2006 when it comes time for me to leave for Manila again - giving the viewers a more orderly timeline of events so that I can begin posting the most current Project Rice content from Manila in Nov. 2006.

Thanks for your patience & for visitng today,
PJ

April 29, 2003: Manila

Oliver's story is below in another image - he's here in front of an old tank at the Naval Station on Roxas Blvd, with the grit of the tank in the background, and the grit on Oliver's little face.

He always smiled though, dispite his poverty.

PJAMES

May 3, 2003: Manila

I was just out for an evening walk again around Ermita, when I came upon a construction site where an old building was comming down, and these two boys were having a blast playing with something in the rubble - laughing & jumping up & down...I was wondering what kind of neat game or toy they had going on.

As soon as I came over...they smiled for my camera...and I noticed they had no toys and no games.

What they were totally consumed playing with, was a medium sized box which was covered in tape (he's holding it in the image)...and inside the box were rocks from the construction site, in all shapes & sizes.

I actually felt bad for them, seeing that they didn't have a toy to play with...

Without any toys or games, they were totally and completely having the most incredible fun with:
A Box of ROCKS!

I always remember this picture when I see kids in the USA fighting over batteries for the GameBoy, and arguing over who gets the pitchers glove & who has to be the hitter when it comes time to play some baseball...etc.

I always remember the Box of ROCKS:)

PJAMES

April 27, 2003: Manila

I met Little Oliver on my first trip to Manila, on one of my daily walks on Roxas Blvd. - his Family used to run a small sidewalk stand selling cigarettes, candy & soft drinks, but they moved in 2004 so I never saw him again.

This image is one of my favorites from that trip, he loved having his picture taken, and I enjoyed sitting & chatting with his brothers, sisters, cousins & Aunts during my first 3 weeks there.

Oliver's family was also homeless & sleeping in a jeep parked in a secluded area of the Naval Station parking area, but they always greeted me daily with hi-5's and smiles; I'd always buy my bottled ice water from their coolers for a cool drink in the 90 degree heat & humidity.

Later that month the Family there told me they needed help with their capitol to buy more stock for the sidewalk stand; the supplies were very low - and I loaned them P2,750 (about $50.00/USD) not really thinking they'd be able to pay it back (turns out they couldn't)...and I never did try to collect, they were just too poor.

Oliver always loved scanning the LCD on the Olympus E10 SLR to see his images, but I never got to give him a print in 2003/04/05/06 - no one around there seems to know where they moved to.

PJAMES

April 29, 2003: Roxas Blvd. Manila

I love this image of Rose & her baby - I was just out walking on Roxas near the Naval Station, when I passed Rose sitting on the sidewalk...she smilied as I passed by, but was still a little shy when I asked permission to shoot a few frames; it's one of my favorite images from 2003

I would see Rose again in Nov. 2003 in Manila - Rose, her husband & babies are homeless; they sleep in a huge wood cart on wheels that they push through the streets collecting cans & bottles for money; the babies sleep through the night while Rose & her husband work the streets.

In 2004 I saw the Family out at 11pm near Adriatico Street - I told Rose her picture came out great & she smiled this huge smile, but I didn't have a print to give her then, and I felt terrible about that because I never saw the Family again in 2005/2006, even though I did look for them at night on certain days, carrying a nice 5x7 print with me in case I saw them.

PJAMES

Nov. 25, 2003: Manila

...I took this shot very quickly with the Olympus E10 SLR, through a glass window while I was sitting inside a money changers office, when this little girl came to the window - she was maybe 10 years old or so, and sat down on the ground outside, holding an infant & a small red balloon in her left hand.

I remember thinking to myself, 'why does this girl have an infant' 'where are her parents', etc.
...and yes, she was looking up the street - looking for travelers who might be heading to the money changer.

When I exited the building, the girl had already left with the infant - I never saw them again.

PJAMES

Nov.27, 2005: MH Del Pilar Street, Manila

This image has always disturbed me - even though Gina bright smile comes through, the child next to her has cuts & scrapes all over her face & forehead, and I remembered not realizing this until right as I pressed the shutter.

I don't know the child's name, and she had been rescued from a local children's shelter the day before, by Rosa & Edison's Grandfather Willie (I remember the child living on MHDP St in years past, but for some reason was removed by authorities in early Nov. 2005).

Willie was telling me the horror stories of what can really happen to kids there in the shelter (chaos, violence, abuse, etc) and told me he'd just manage to get this child out on Nov. 26, 2005 and was caring for the child at his place - actually an abandonded/condemmed movie theater they were living & sleeping in - along with Rosa & Edison's Auntie..

PJAMES

A few days ago we activated the PayPal links (at the top-right corner of this page) for ProjectRice.Org

Our PayPal ID's are:
team@projectrice.org
projectriceonline@yahoo.com

This will make it easy for those who wish to contribute to pRICE's efforts to have the means to secure enough rice (we buy rice in 50KG sacks) for the growing number of the poor street Families, and poor Families who have some shelter and are still in need of help feeding their Families.

These funds are also used for basic children's clothing & necessities, and for those childen who are sick & need to see a doctor or clinic.

In early 2006 near the end of my last trip, the sheer number of those in need was growing on a daily basis - I found that I could not walk the streets of the neighborhoods I was in anymore, without being approached daily by more of the poor I knew there, asking for my help - even well after those funds were exhausted.

Most humbling in 2005/2006, were the numbers of poor families who would see me out walking, and run accross the street just to say 'Thank You' to me for helping them, even if I had only been able to give them a little of what they needed......sometimes I would find myself telling them "I wish it could have been more..." - but I knew I was doing the best I could, with the resources I had at the time.

If you'd like to help support our efforts, you can make a gift to ProjectRice.Org through PayPal using your credit cards, checking or savings accts.

Thank you for taking the time to visit here today,
PJAMES

Dec.18, 2005: Cebu Philippines

...some of the ProjectRice.Org children on a street where I've stayed in Lapu Lapu City - the neighborhood is full of children like these, and I was actually involved with helping Lisa & LetLet's Family there:
Lisa & LetLet's image: Jan. 2005

...the children here are Lisa & LetLet's neighbors (Lisa & LetLet are 2 sisters that have been the subject of my photography for the past 2 years), and what started out as helping L&L's Family out with daily food, gradually grew to include the other poor children of the neighborhood in that time period.

PJAMES

Designed by New York City graphic designer Milo Hess.

Milo gifted the logo to me yesterday - he found me through my pbase.com images a few months back, but I never expected such a wonderfull gift from him.

We'll register this as a trademark; all rights reserved as of July 7, 2006

Thank you, Milo
PJAMES

Good Morning (actually, Good Afternoon to some) and welcome back.

A few new things are happening here on ProjectRice:

1. We're now using the MoveableType platform to publish the site.
2. We have a pRICE email address: team@projectrice.org

It took a little while to get done, webmaster Steve & I were online & on the phone for many hours on July 4th, and he made some changes to the way the site functions, so THANK YOU again to Steve Griffith.

Initially we were using WordPress to publish things, but it really began getting difficult to get it to work the way we wanted (I'm totally new at blogging, writing, etc. and I don't do any programming or web design; my forte` is the photography & the issues - Steve has a programming background and he's the one who irons out the software issues, so we're both learning this as we go...) - Steve chose the MT platform, and it's been working well so far.

team@projectrice.org

...our new email address, which is accessable via the "mail" button in the upper right-corner of the content page.
...since the site is new, I'd love to get some emails from our viewers, so please fell free to contact us here as you like.

Best Regards,
PJAMES

Same day, Jan.1, 2005 - this is one of my most favorite images of Gina.

Yes, her little face is dirty, but she's got that bright smile - I didn't look at this file until I published it on pbase.com last year, but when I went back through that days files & saw this one, then converted to B&W I just loved it.

Gina's got this cute little cackle/laugh when I show her the shots on the camera's LCD screen - I've got a nice image of her from late Nov. 2005, holding a 5x7 print of her that I took in 2003, that I'll post soon.

Thanks for taking the time to read my posts from today.
PJAMES

New Years day January 1, 2005 I found Gina has just woken up on the street; I noticed that her face was very dirty, and it was hard for her to stay clean, so I'd try to wipe her face a little bit - I had already gone to the 7-11 for her milk & the nice Japanese Hopia cakes she likes, and she ran to me when she saw me, and gave me SUCH a big hug - here I am, thrilled to see her again - and I don't know if I'm going to laugh or cry (I laughed & said to her: "THERE you are...!")

I gave her the Hopia & sat with her for about 15 minutes - she'd give me another hug, then take a bite of her cake - she doesn't speak any English, but man can she talk in Tagalog - she'd talk & talk, and I'd speak English to her & watch her smile......we never understood each other, but then again we always understood each other.

I looked down on the ground and she was carrying a pink teddy bear that she dropped at my feet....accross the bears chest was the caption: "HUG ME"

I hugged her & told her i would see her later that day.

PJAMES

This image - along with the sepia toned pic of Gina below are the very first photographs I took of her in 2003, near Roxas Blvd. - both images were taken within 1 minute of each other, and here Gina got up from her lunch on the sidewalk to check me & my Olympus E10 digicam out; she always enjoys seeing her face on the LCD screen, and that always made me happy to show her, even though I was still very upset with seeing her poverty.

It's as though when she came to smile at me as she got up from that sidewalk, she made some of my own pain go away that day....and she always smiled; never complained about anything...and that always cooled me out & made ME feel better.

Thank you, Gina

I've known little Gina since my first trips to Philippines in 2003 - she's from a very poor Family and lives, eats, plays & sleeps on the street in Metro Manila - her family literally lives out of a few bags & blankets, and Gina must take whatever meals she can get, also on the street.

Gina does not yet beg, and it's not her fault that she's so poor - the first thing I remember about seeing her for the first time, was her huge smile - she loves to smile & laugh dispite her poverty, and as she began to recognise me during my 2nd. trip to Manila in Nov. 2003, she would always run over to me & give me hugs - and I'd always bring her whatever foods & milk I'd get from the local 7-11 there, yet she would never ever ask me for anything.

In the image above which I shot as I came around the corner of the street where her Father had prepared her lunch - her Father smiled & asked to see what I'd been shooting that day, and he always loved seeing Gina's smiling face in my photographs.

It always killed me to see how she had to live & sleep on the streets, and her Mother & Father always invited me to sit & eat with them (I always did) right there on the streets.

There are more images of Gina from early 2005 in my pbase.com Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/pauljames/manila_street_shots_portraits_children_in_need

PJAMES