Christine Schneider

Rubble and Redemption: Finding Life in the Slums of Manila Christine Schneider

"No Europeans live there!" exclaim the locals when the Schneider family moves to the slums of Manila. Yet garbage dumps and tin shacks are to be their home for many years. It's here that they encounter chief witness Nick, doomed Jessabel, rapist Arol, billionaire Doña, guerilla Nardo, burnt-out development worker Rob ... The couple's gripping, first-hand account tells of countless fascinating encounters, of friendship and betrayal, of floods and shoot-outs in broad daylight, of prayers, dreams and fears, of meaningless death and meaningful life. Christian Schneider, a trained nurse, and his wife, Christine, a primary school teacher, spent over nine years in the slums of Manila with their two children. Through their life with the poor, they helped develop therapeutic communities for former drug addicts, prostitutes and street children. Christian and Christine now live back in Switzerland, but continue to support the aid organization Onesimo they founded in Manila.