Emiliana Nastor (left) and her friend Filipina Doton with bottle of wishing stars.

Kneeling in the dark, Emiliana Nastor and her young daughter rock back and forth to the rhythmic chants of the two elderly women seated behind them. All eyes are fixed on the makeshift altar and the candle flames which illuminate the front room of Emiliana's modest home.
It is nine days since her brother's death, a time when tradition requires this prayerful ritual to ensure his soul's safe passage into the afterlife. A fixture in Agno village in Northern Luzon, Emiliana's brother died penniless and alone from a peptic ulcer he could not afford to treat.
For Emiliana and her husband Saturnio, the costs of providing a decent burial were beyond their means. Emiliana, 49, earns 200 pesos ($5) a day from the tasty rice cakes she makes and sells in the market. Saturnio, a tenant farmer, earns just 12 bags of rice for a year of hard labour. The older of their twelve children help out but the rest are too young to contribute. More