Pag Pag: Some People's Trash is Other People's Treasure

 

Pag Pag is a term for "leftover food". You know, food that we didn't finish and throw away to the bin. There are people who eat it. Now, this happens in the slums of Philippines. They don't eat straight from the trash, but washed and cooked it with sauce to make it palatable. This is the meal for the poorest people in the world. 

Pag Pag costs only 20 pesos ($0.50). Anything more than that, these Filipinos can't afford. This is poverty, and I mean extreme poverty that forces people to eat anything to avoid hunger. As these Filipinos constantly live in filthy environment, somehow their body are more resistant that they don't get stomach upset or diarrhea.after eating Pag Pag. Even so, the kids there are still malnourished. 

On the other hand, Pag Pag is a source of business and income for some Filipinos. Meat is collected from the trash, so the costs amounts to nothing except for ingredients for the sauce. These Filipinos are able to earn 200-300 pesos ($5-$8) a day, which still allows them to foot their expenses and get by. 

The process is not glamorous at all. One had to withstand the stench, the oil, grease, sludge and fight for food with the rodents like rats and cockroaches. It is not fun. At all. 

At the end of the day, if nobody helps them, they got to help themselves. Life is tough, but so are they. 

Education is necessary to get out of this plight, otherwise it's a cycle year after year, generations after generations. 

Lack of Education -> Extreme Poverty -> Hunger -> Unsafe and unclean food

The last question, what can we do to help?

There needs to be a medium, but trustworthy ones are difficult to validate. 

I came across VERSE. It is a channel where people like you and me can donate 100% to those in need. It is not a non-profit organisation where you