Gina: Homeless in Manila, 2003
I've known little Gina since my first trips to Philippines in 2003 - she's from a very poor Family and lives, eats, plays & sleeps on the street in Metro Manila - her family literally lives out of a few bags & blankets, and Gina must take whatever meals she can get, also on the street.
Gina does not yet beg, and it's not her fault that she's so poor - the first thing I remember about seeing her for the first time, was her huge smile - she loves to smile & laugh dispite her poverty, and as she began to recognise me during my 2nd. trip to Manila in Nov. 2003, she would always run over to me & give me hugs - and I'd always bring her whatever foods & milk I'd get from the local 7-11 there, yet she would never ever ask me for anything.
In the image above which I shot as I came around the corner of the street where her Father had prepared her lunch - her Father smiled & asked to see what I'd been shooting that day, and he always loved seeing Gina's smiling face in my photographs.
It always killed me to see how she had to live & sleep on the streets, and her Mother & Father always invited me to sit & eat with them (I always did) right there on the streets.
There are more images of Gina from early 2005 in my pbase.com Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/pauljames/manila_street_shots_portraits_children_in_need
PJAMES