EXPLORING TRASH
EXPLORING TRASH
CHARACTER PROFILE
THE BOYS: RAPHAEL FERNANDEZ, GARDO, RAT (JUN JUN)
RAPHAEL FERNANDEZ -
NAME - Raphael Fernandez
AGE - 14 years old
GENDER - Male
ETHNICITY - Philippine
SOCIAL STATUS - Low ranked as he is a trash boy with little family
EDUCATION - Raphael doesn't attend the mission school, he has only attended the school once and has been asked to go more but refuses as he needs to work
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE - Raphael wears a pair of hacked- off jeans and a too big T-Shirt that he can roll up on his head when the sun is out. He doesn't wear shoes as his feet are as hard as hooves. Raphael is slight and skinny, he has long hair a bit past his face with an enchanting smile. Raphael looks young for his age as he isn't quite tall and has quite short limbs.
BIRTHPLACE - Raphael was born at Smokey Mountain trash dump but that turned out to be so bad that the mountains came crashing down, so they were moved along the road to Behala Rubbish Town.
FRIENDS - Rapahel has many friends all around the rubbish town as they are like one big community, but his best friend is a boy named Gardo who is also 14 and they were born the same day as each other but Gardo is 7 hours older than Raphael. Many people say that they were born on the same sheet so they may aswell be brothers. Gardo and Raphael are partners throughout the dump, working together all day every day. Gardo is bigger than Raphael so he looks after Raphael. Raphael also has a friend called Jun Jun but everybody calls him Rat. They do not see rat as often though because he lives in a hole on the outskirts of the garbage mounds.
FAMILY - Raphael doesn't have much family. He lives with his Aunty and two cousins in a shack around the garbage, ever since his mother passed away and the father had troubles with beliefs and couldn't be around Raphael.
HOBBIES AND JOBS- Raphael's job and hobbies include picking and sorting trash, climbing up huge garbage mounds to find pieces of food, plastic, rubber, and paper or even glass so that he can earn a living to survive. Raphael started being a trash boy since he could pick things up and move on his own. So for him that was the age of 3 and he has been working ever since.
VALUES AND BELIEFS - Raphael values his friends and families and believes that mate ship is the most important thing in life. He also believes that you don't find anything good amongst the trash but he still holds onto hope that someday life will get better.
HOW HE ACTS EMOTIONALLY AND SOCIALLY - Emotionally Raphael acts very resilient as he bounces back from problems which occurs and always tries to find a way to improve them or ignore them. He also keeps to himself. He holds on and fights for himself and for what he believes in a values. Socially Raphael is quite nervous around new people especially if they are law enforcers. Around friends and families he has a lot of fun and is quite cheeky when it comes to hiding thing or not telling his aunty.

GARDO -
NAME - Gardo
AGE - 14
GENDER - Male
ETHNICITY - Phillipino
SOCIAL STATUS - Lower ranked than Raphael as he has less family but is also a trash boy
EDUCATION - Gardo doesn't attend school and has only attended once and has been ask by the mission school workers but refuses (like raphael.)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE - Gardo's a thin as a whip, with long arms and legs and a shaved head. According to Father Juillard Gardo looks very watchful and has the poise and grace of an athlete. Gardo (like any other dumpsite boy and girl) has only only one tshirt and one pair pants and no shoes, so he walks round bare footed at his own risk.
BIRTHPLACE - Like Raphael Gardo was also born at smokey mountain dump site and was born on the same sheet as Raphael as people say and got moved to Behala exactly like Raphael.
FRIENDS - Gardo has many friends around the community but his best friend is Raphael and is close with a guy named Jun Jun but everyone calls him Rat. Gardo and Raphael have a very strong mateship and Gardo looks after Raphael when they go scavenging for food throughout the garbage mounds.
FAMILY - Gardo has very little family. He has one uncle and that is all. There is no information on what happened to his parents so he just lives with his uncle.
HOBBIES AND JOBS - Gardo's doesn't have time for any hobbies as he is focused on working on the garbage mounds and picking/sorting through rubbish so that he can earn a living for him and his family. His job is to work with Raphael on the mountains of trash to find plastic, rubber, glass etc and then give it to the junk store to get money in return.
VALUES AND BELIEFS - Like most people in the world Gardo values his family (uncle) and all of his community and friends especially Raphael as they have grown up together and Gardo values there mateship they share between eachother. Gardo believes that you never find anything goof when you sift through the trash. He also has a firm belief in looking after his family and friends and what he values especially.
HOW HE ACTS EMOTIONALLY AND SOCIALLY - Gardo doesn't often speak when he is around other people, he is a very watchful person who looks after everyone. Personally i believe that he is quite emotionally scarred as he is shy to many new people who he isn't farmilliar with. Socially i believe gardo is very tough as he is quite big and has a very serious face.
JUN JUN A.K.A RAT
NAME - Jun Jun (rat) - rat got his name because he lives the
AGE - 10-11
ETHNICITY - Phillipino
SOCIAL STATUS - Rat is the lowest ranked out of his three friends as he has no family and lives on the outskirts of the rubbish town in a hole
EDUCATION - Rat used to attend the mission schools classes, if he didn't he would of died because he would of starved to death if they didnt' give him any food or water. Rat doesn't attend class anymore but still goes to the mission school to get food and see Sister Olivia and Father Juliard
PHYSICAL APPERANCE - Rat has a odd sort of odd facial appearance which (as you can tell by the name) looks like a rat. He has broken teeth which stick out of his mouth and a pinched looking face. He wears raggered shorts and looks black as an ash. He used to be called monkey boy because he had wide eyes his whole life like monkeys. Rat's arms and legs are skinny as pencils which you could break with one finger according to Raphael.
BIRTHPLACE - The only thing everyone knew about rat was that he came from Sampalo somewhere far out in the city. He lives on his own in a dark and deep hole on the outskirts of Behala, he lives with hundreds of rats and sleeps on a few sheets of cardboard and is surrounded by piles and piles of trash. The walls amd ceilings of the hole are all damp and have many cracks in it where the rats live and breed.
FRIENDS - Rat doesn't have any friends, he has nobody. He lives on his own in a far away hole with no body but the rats to company him. He is only close with two children named Raphael and Gardo who come to him to hide something so that the police don't find what they are hiding. Rat then becomes close with the two boys and they go on some wild adventures together
FAMILY - Rat has no family. He is the only child in Behala that Raphael knew who had abosoultey no one. There were defineitly people who only had one parents, or no parents but had aunties, uncles or cousins but rat has nobody there to support him, love him or care for him.
HOBBIES & JOBS - Rat has no time for hobbies all he does is collect trash piles and takes it into his hole to sort through hoping to find a scrap of food to survive on. Rat is not really seen usually outside scavanging through the trash as he tends to stay in his hole alot. He used to go to the mission school to attend classes but now goes only for food as he would dies without it.
VALUES & BELIEFS - Rat values money, he always steals it from father juliard and sister olivia. He values the money because he needs it to live, he has a great plan to run away oneday with all the money that he has stolen from various people and live a great life. Rat believes that he can make a better life with all the money that he has collected over time.
HOW HE ACTS EMOTIONALLY AND SOCIALLY - Rat does not show much emotion to other people, from what i read in this book he is very blank to everyone and is not affectionate, or really shows any emotion. Rat isn't very social at all, because he has no family and not many friends he doesn't overly know how to act around new people, only people that he is farmilliar with, so not many at all.