Before I embarked on this journey the divide between the rich and the poor in my mind was created by time and space and aeroplanes. I had journeyed to the places of the poor, to some of the most destitute and devastated countries in the world, but I had never stayed. I had come and observed, worked, critiqued and left. I had studied Health and International  Development but until I undertook my final practice development subject my experience was in theories and concepts, not reality.

Today I live in Mania home to 20 million souls. The capital city of the diverse and often breathtakingly beautiful archipelago of the Philippines. I live in the world between. The divide is a six lane freeway separating the grounds of the Ateneo de Manila University from the rest of the world. On one side the children of the elite, the price of an education within these walls being higher than even my Australian salary. On the other side are the children of the projects. Dirty, malnourished and lacking even a basic education. My office is inside the gated university, my work in the public schools that cater to the 99% of children who will never be able to afford an education within an institution like the Ateneo.

At home the divide between the haves and the have-nots is so great, yes in terms of money, but also in terms of visibility and experience. If I turn off the TV at the first sign of world news and avoid those harping charity collection people, I might never come face to face with the way in which the majority of the world lives. In Manila the divide is strangely invisible, the poor dwelling among the rich, sleeping on the streets outside many roomed mansions, appealing at the windows of air-conditioned chaffer driven cars, cleaning the houses of the upper class Pinoy housewives who spend their days in spas and parlors. The poor are all around them and yet a gulf exists which cannot be bridged. On one side of the great divide the diseases of poverty affect children in urban Manila slums and provincial communities, on the other side the diseases of affluence afflict the rich.

I'm an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development (AYAD) undertaking a year long project in Manila developing a monitoring and evaluation system for a non government organization working within the public schools across Quezon City. The experience has been challenging and inspiring. At almost all times it is inexplicably difficult to reconcile with my past views of the world with what I see and experience in everyday life. I'm using the skills I have learnt in my masters program to help develop greater organisational efficiency and increase the impact of my organizations work with the public schools.

The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD) Program is an Australian Government initiative and is fully funded by the Australian Government's overseas aid agency, AusAID and managed by Austraining International. www.ayad.com.au

 

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