The world can be both a cruel and wonderful place. Often, the good and the bad go hand-in-hand, after all, you can’t have light without dark. The fact is, bad things happen in this world. Bad things happen to good people, and no, if something bad happens to you it doesn’t mean you deserved it.
No matter where you live, you might see the same homeless person curled up on the sidewalk with only a coffee cup or a hat for the money. It’s also no surprise that plenty of people walk by people like this every single day without thinking twice. Sometimes these people are adults and their pets, or in this case, it could be a mother and her baby.
To say that the Philippines is no stranger to impoverished families would be an understatement. While traveling around Manila in 2014, a photographer by the name of AJ Laberinto captured a disheartening sight. The photos show a young child in no clothing asleep on a public staircase. Many who passed him by simply glanced at the child and kept on walking, others didn’t even look.
While some wanted there to be more to this story, there honestly wasn’t very much to say. Child poverty is common in other parts of the world, and it’s a reality in North America as well. The people who have ignored this child probably see many children just like him on their daily commute.
The photographer had a few words to spare about the images he captured.
“After having finished taking the photos I then asked some familiar faces in the crowd, people who actually lived near those stairs, as to where the parent of that baby was.
Lo and behold, a woman somewhat bedraggled with dirty clothes showed up and immediately carried the baby away. All of this in a span of seconds. I bought the child food, by the way, four days ago and he’s still living in the streets.”
Unfortunately, the universe keeps going, and we have to keep on moving too. If you would like to help children in Manila there are specific charities such as the Children’s Shelter of Cebu or Childhope Asia-Philippines.
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