WHEN most people marry, their gift list contains pots, pans, and maybe the occasional set of towels.

Not so for Cat Taylor Powell and her husband Mark, from Horwich. They chose instead to use cash donations to change the life of a little girl living in a cemetery in the Philippines.

The couple decided to sponsor 15-year-old Maridel, who, after the death of her father, moved in with her sister’s family — into a cemetery in Manila.

The families in the cemetery make their houses on the top of concrete tombs and sleep surrounded by bones.

They are helped by a small charity, The Durian Project, which the Powells learned about through their church, The Bridge. The charity specialises in helping families in the Philippines who fall below the criteria of most sponsorship programmes.

And the Powells were so touched by Maridel’s letters they decided to travel to the Philippines to visit her.

Mrs Taylor Powell’s photographs from the trip will now form the focus of an exhibition, which will open at a new art venue at Claremont house, in Bark Street, on March 22.

The 30-year-old professional photographer said: “Not many people get the chance to visit their sponsor children and capture people’s personal lives, so I felt the responsibility to record the reality of their distressing living conditions to make others aware.

“It was fantastic to see Maridel — it all became very real.

“She was really shy and couldn’t speak English as she didn’t have any schooling.

“The project tries to get children like Maridel back into school and also does things like giving them hot meals and helping them find houses.”

The couple visited the graveyards and slums, and also travelled to the hospitals and prisons in the surrounding countryside.

Money raised from the exhibition will go towards helping the project, and Mrs Taylor Powell is hoping to travel back out to the Philippines in the future.