Philippines
Smokey Mountains, Manila
Our first target in the Philippines is the Smokey Mountains in Manila, which is the biggest slum area. Houses there are surrounded by garbage. Due to the lack of electrical supply, families have to light up the candles to have dinner. One of the main concern about candle is that the whole slum could catch fire from one candle. The reason is that the houses exist so close to each other and the whole place is full of garbage which is non-fire resistance.
Our purpose is to reduce the rate of using candles which cause fire and donate Starlight lamps which are brighter and safer than candles.
The Philippines is home to an estimated population of 103 million people as of 2016. Though largely considered to be more developed than its much poorer neighbors in Asia such as Cambodia and Myanmar, a large percentage of the population falls below the national poverty line (26.1% in 2015).
Of the 100 over million, 38.3% of that number are living in slum areas with low living conditions. One of the more infamous of such slums is the Smokey Mountains in Manila. In the city of Manila alone, about 50% of the estimated 11 million inhabitants live in slum areas and a large percentage of them in the Smokey Mountains.
In 2016, 9% of the Philippines’ population do not have access to electricity. Though the number percentage may seem small, given the large population of over 100 million people, an estimated 9 million people lack access to electricity. Reports by the Philippine Statistic Authority in 2015 showed that only 70.2% of families belonging to the lowest 30% of the income strata have electricity in their homes, compared with the 94.5% of the families belonging to the highest 70%.
It is also noticeable that 27.2% of families belonging to the lowest 30% have either a public tap, an unprotected well, or an undeveloped spring for their main source of water supply (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015).