Club Meeting

On Monday 4 September, we were delighted to welcome Jane Walker MBE as our speaker. Jane is renowned as a speaker at Rotary conferences especially for her work in the Philippines.  We also welcomed additional visitors – Noel and Lilet Simmons, and ladies from the Filipino Women’s Association, which included Louella.

Jane, whilst working for News International, decided to take a sabbatical to the Philippines, a decision which changed her life completely. Encouraged by news media reports of the terrible living conditions, she was encouraged to explore the most dreadful parts of Manila.

She witnessed families, including very young children, living and working on rubbish tips, sifting through piles of rubbish to try to retrieve something (anything) of value that might help families generate income or food to sustain their lives. A whole community was living in shanty style housing alongside the rubbish tip.

Shock and desperation were the reactions of Jane, who decided that, to fully understand the plight of these families, she should go and live on the rubbish dump. Money would not provide the whole answer to the problem, and money was not going to be forthcoming anyway. Their needs comprised housing, education, health, employment, social interaction and nutrition. Jane established a day care centre on the site for the benefit of the children and their mothers, and then went on to convert a dilapidated building into a school. Attendance at the school was met with some resistance from parents who saw it as a way of diverting childrens’ attention away from work on the rubbish dump. Over time, with much effort and intriguing tactics, parents and children started to recognise the value of good education as a means to improve family income.

Children are very vulnerable in the Philippines to paedophiles, pimps and even domestic violence and it has been necessary to engage trauma therapists and counsellors to help the children affected.

All this has been made possible through Jane’s Purple (previously Philippine) Community Fund. Jane handed over the management of the Fund to local residents, but has remained a Trustee, and has been a regular visitor there, and more recently has been drafted back to generate more projects for the Fund.

She brought with her, a range of craft goods, made by the families working on the dump, from the rubbish collected. She sold a number of these after her talk to those present.

Her talk provided stimulating questions and discussions among the 26 present.

Jane was christened by UK media as the “Angel of the Dump”, a name well deserved, as was the MBE for the work and commitment she has put in to improve the lives of families in the Philippines.

 Thank you Jane for your valued contribution to a most enjoyable evening.