Through My Eyes - Payatas Kid's Photo Team

The photos you see below have been taken by team of 7 budding photographers, all kids, kids who live in the Payatas Dumpsite of Quezon City.
They are Nicasio, Arnil and Cherylin (brother and sister), Joshua, Erwin, Angiecel and Clare Ann.

Through generous benefactors, acts29 has been able to provide cameras and film and development of the films for the children. For the 1st time, the kids are going out to see a world beyond their dumpsite. They've been to the mall, fast food, Quezon city park and in mid April we hope to take them out on a jeepney for another exciting journey beyond the dumpsite.

The Through My Eyes project aims to help these children record what they see around them and tell others about the world as they see it. We want to help the children dream beyond the dumpsite. Some of these children are at-risk of becoming full-time scavengers or taking on other full-time jobs to support their families. We've started work to get the children's birth certificates processed thanks to the efforts of our full-timer, Mayb. With the birth certs, the children can get into mainstream school and pursue formal education. Hopefully the children can also get benefactors to sponsor their education. we want to eradicate poverty and we believe empowering children with an education is the way to go. We also believe in empowering the poor by giving them a platform to voice their stories.

We hope to publish a photo book the kids have done that will speak their lifestory And that the proceeds from photobook will fund their educaiton. Well, it's still a long way to go but nevertheless we're hopeful. At this moment, we praise God that Joshua is back with the team after having gone missing for a while. We've lost touch with Arnil and Cherylin. Mayb's been searching for them since they shifted. Let's pray for these kids and that their parents would let them continue their studies.