Whenever 12-year-old Jezreel Ann Balbuena comes down with a cold, her parents rush to a nearby pharmacy to get hold of nonprescription drugs and take turns tending to her. Going to see a doctor is not an option because the family has no health insurance.
Daily necessities, such as rice, clothes and stationery items, are hard to come by, too, with Balbuena unable to wear anything other than her mother's hand-me-down clothes.
"I'm ashamed every time I find myself to be the last person in my classroom to pay school lunch fees and other school-related expenses," the Filipino said. "I'm scared of the way people look at me."