Overstretched cities Graveyard living: inside the 'cemetery slums' of Manila
Everywhere poverty.
Overstretched cities
Graveyard living: inside the 'cemetery slums' of Manila
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/21/cemetery-slums-life-manilas-graveyard-settlements-philippines
In the poorly serviced capital of the Philippines, the poorest citizens have taken to living where no one else will – alongside the dead
by Lynzy Billing in Manila
Wed 21 Mar 2018 07.00 EDT
“I have lived here for 51 years – and I have been trying to leave for 51 years,” says Elvira Miranda. “The government want us gone, and we also want to go. But we need somewhere to go.”
Miranda, 68, has been living with her husband and children in a teetering shanty above a stack of graves in Manila North Cemetery since 1966. It is the kind of situation you might find yourself in if, like Miranda, you’re poor, you have no job and you live in one of the world’s most notoriously crowded cities.
“We keep the cemetery clean … The community has kept to itself,” she says. “Most people here don’t have an income, but we try and find odd jobs to make ends meet. We sell flowers to victims’ families, make headstones or build coffins.”
Manila is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, as migrants from the countryside have poured in seeking better opportunities. On arrival, the majority find little work and nowhere to live except self-built communities............................
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In 1996, Manila North Cemetery residents appealed for a school, washroom and church. Nothing happened.
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A caretaker in Pasay exhumes a baby – its family can no longer pay to rent the grave space. In Manila most graves exist on a five-year lease. If it is not renewed, the bones are dug up and incinerated or given back to the family.
“I like living here, the area is quiet. It is free, and my work is good. I can get 50 pesos to dig a baby’s grave, 150 for an adult. There are lots of bodies and so lots of work for me. It allows me to feed my family and helps people. Somebody has to do it.”............................
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