Ronas Garden has changed a lot since we first walked on its streets. Our local community partner, Barangay Loyola Heights, conducted its regular monitoring in Ronas Garden and nearby areas. The streets still hold their reputation for being a dangerous area, but there was something different about it now. Before we started our Manila Slum Program in this area, you will see or be approached by children and their mothers on the streets selling or begging for a little change. Since then, we made it a mission to keep these children off these streets and in classrooms where they belong.

 

Left side shows children playing inside a wooden cart on an urban street lined with plants. Right side depicts an empty street under an overpass, with potted plants along a fence.
Left photo was taken on April 2023, where you can see some of our beneficiaries playing in a wooden cart. Right photo was taken on July 2025.

 

With the help of the barangay’s social worker and members of the Barangay Council, we found that those children and mothers were no longer there! Although it’s a win, we still found newer faces of adult vendors and beggars. We talked to them, listened to their struggles, before offering them assistance from the local government and our programs.

Imagining someone else’s life in the slums could be unthinkable most of the time. Some challenges could only be fully understood by someone who had lived there. Some of them feel forced to return to begging or vending when financial emergencies arise. That’s why we conduct these routine monitoring sessions. This way, we could always see where they are, guide them to sustainable options, and keep children in school and off the streets.

 

People walk on a vibrant yellow pedestrian bridge under an industrial structure. The scene conveys a sense of urban movement and modernity.
Footbridge where beggars are frequently seen.

 

An orange truck and a motorbike with two riders stop at a green light on a city street. Sidewalk has trees, bushes, and blurry figures. Bright, sunny day.
Few vendors and beggars along the road.

 

Pedestrian path under a bridge with a crosswalk in foreground. People walk along the path, flanked by greenery on the left and parked cars on the right. Urban setting.
Clean path under the bridge. Vendors are usually seen here.

 

 

Our Partners

Logo of partners

Manila Slum Program Philippines