18/09/2026
A Home That Barely Feels Like One
This is one of the families and homes that has stayed heavily on our minds since last week.
We are now beginning to work on a project for this communityโsomething we will share more about in the days to come.
But before we talk about what we hope to do, I would like to show you first the reality of how some of these families are living.
This is the entryway to a home shared by four familiesโ21 people altogether, adults and children, 14 adults, 7 kids, separated not by walls but by curtains.
The entire dwelling measures only 43.68 square metersโabout 470 square feet. To picture that, imagine roughly three cars parked side by side.
Now imagine 21 people from four families living, sleeping, eating, and raising children within that space.
Buburak at pipita. Matuling ne ing burak.
Aliua-liuang bau.
The ground beneath your feet is dark, almost pitch-black with mudโwet in some areas, hardened in others. The smell is overpowering. You can already smell it from outside.
Once inside, it is difficult to call the place a shelter. It does not look safe or healthy for anyone to live in.
One resident had been suffering from fever and significant weight loss, raising concern for possible leptospirosis. Toddlers walked barefoot on the dirty ground, wearing hardly anything except thin underwear.
They urinate into a plastic tube. For bowel movements, they had to run to the barangay public toilet.
Parts of the floor were hardened mud mixed with f***s. The hallway was dark and so narrow that barely two people could walk side by side.
Twenty-one people live here, somehow trying to make a home out of a place that barely feels like one.
This living space is inside a cemetery, where these families have made a home among the graves.
Jude and I cannot look away from this. I pray that after seeing these photos and hearing their story, you will find it difficult to look away, too.
Thank you.
~~ Therese/Empower Philippines ๐ต๐ญ ๐บ๐ธ
Matthew 25:40 โค๏ธ๐๐
