Luxica Suganthan, 1 yr. and 5 months, weeps while receiving a medical treatment inside a hospital after a typhoid outbreak in Infanta Quezon, South of Manila According to a local health doctor, some victims displayed symptoms of typhoid and others are under observation. Child immunization on the other hand are scarce in some rural areas in the Philippines that could prolong and save lives.

There are 1,200 families living within the dumpsite where the charcoal factory is located. Some of the kids may have to leave school and work to contribute to their parents income. The children are also being exposed to health hazards due to smoke inhalation which will more likely be a problem to their family and the community and being used as labourers thus exposing them to all sorts of danger.

After a daily routine of scouring for recyclables and others' leftovers, a boy dives into a makeshift pool amidst a sea of garbage, unmindful of the stench and toxic combination that causes deadly diseases such as diarrhea, leptospirosis and typhoid. As a common situation in a third world country like the Philippines, scavengers particularly in metro Manila make a living through mountains of trash where flies and mosquitoes swarm. It is difficult for people to imagine what it would be like to live in such conditions, however thats the daily reality for those poor individuals living in the dumpsite. The hundreds of scavengers scouring the garbage prominently depicted in international media as the picture of poverty in the Philippines.

A native Filipino boy James, 8, reacts as a CH53 Super Stallion Helicopter lands on the shoreline of Dingalan Aurora, S0uth of Manila, April 20, 2009 to participate in the medical mission of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit of the US Marines in the "US-Philippine military Exercises 2009". About 6,000 American military personnel and 2,000 Armed forces of the Philippines personnel are participating in Balikatan Military exercises sanctioned under the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement.

The parents of this young girl work at the charcoal factory in Sitio Damayan, Manila. Offentimes she is left on her own and play with other young children her age. Living in constant stress and confusion children face unncertainty for their future where a growing child is learning to deal with everyday life.

Tirso de la Cruz, 14 years old, tends to the earth mound oven where wood scraps are baked to produce charcoal inside a dumpsite at Sitio Damayan in Metro Manila the capital of the Philippines. Instead of playing and enjoying their youth these children are forced to earn money by working in a charcoal factory to help their family living in poverty. In a world where the only thing to survive is education, the children were becoming illiterate and deprived of the things which can make them a better individual. The children are also being exposed to health hazards which will more likely be a problem to their family and the community and being used as laborers thus exposing them to all sorts of danger.

Children take the time out strolling at the bay area of Sitio Damayan in Tondo Manila. Despite the hard work spent at the charcoal factory, they came out to play and swim so as not to miss their childhood.

These kids queue in line hoping to receive a decent meal of porridge during a feeding program initiated by an NGO. Non Profit Organizations (NGO) offer free meal to less fortunate kids living in depressed areas in Manila. Majority of these kids live in garbage dumpsite where a lot of poor scavengers earn their living by collecting and sorting garbage and selling them for recycling. There are hundreds of families living in the area who are dependent in the garbage industry. The feeding program is designed to help poor families in the shanty area where there are several feeding stations across the city are being used for this program.