Philippines

Part of “Apocalypse Now” was filmed in the Philippines town of Baler. And as the story goes, when the film crew left, they left behind their surfboards, starting a new surfing culture there.

Sonia Narang recently returned from reporting on reproductive rights in the Philippines for Across Women’s Lives. She visited Manila’s Fabella Hospital and shows us through her photography what it’s like for Filipino women to endure one of the world’s most crowded maternity wards.

“It has been four years since I stopped schooling. I only reached the sixth grade level and then had to stop so I could work.”

In the Philippines, families with children mine for gold in dark, muddy tunnels of water up to 60 feet deep — exposing themselves to grave danger in the process.In the Philippines, families with children mine for gold in dark, muddy tunnels of water up to 60 feet deep — exposing themselves to grave danger in the process.

It’s hard to see the devastation in the Philippines without wanting to do something to help. Reporter Amy Costello covers the business of doing good and has this advice for helping.