Recycled Life

This afternoon (Wednesday) we had to meet our coordinator at the Parque Central but we were not sure how to get there so we decided at the school and navigate in a large group. We must look ridiculous walking down the street. Pedestrians have the least privilege in crossing the street or walking so you need to stay far to the side or on the sidewalk, if possible. However, the sidewalks are quite narrow and you can only walk single file. Because of the afternoon rain many of us have umbrellas and all of us have a rain jacket. And there we are in a train of people in bright colors walking like ducks in a row.

We watched our first weekly video at Blue Angel Café. The video was a documentary called Recycled Life (DEFINITELY SEE THIS!). This documentary focuses on the lives of people who survive by sorting trash, eating leftovers, and selling recyclables at the trash dump in Guatemala City. This dump is the largest in all of Central America. The video follows the people huajeros and the changes at the dump over approximately a ten year period. There are whole families for generations who take what they need from other people’s trash and sell what they can. A bag of recycled bottles will earn them 50Q (less than 6 dollars). However, there are children working here amongst the rubble and trash trucks and tractor cats that move the trash. Accidents are common and children are often lost in “avalanches.” Since many of the workers have lived here their whole lives, they are not well educated and do not prioritize education for their children. A woman saw this and built a day care exclusively these children. Otherwise small children are left in cardboard boxes while their mothers collect trash nearby. The families live in tin shacks next to the dump and some abandoned children live in the dump itself. Another risk is the toxic methane gas and pollutants that seep up from the trash heap. In 2005, there was a huge fire and it took firefighters over a week to put it out. This prompted the government to set up some regulations. Previously the people worked as their own community and looked out for each other because the rest of Guatemalan society looks down on them for working in the trash. When the dump re-opened, workers needed an identification card and security guards allowed people to collect trash from 9-6, instead of the unlimited hours previously. The school expanded to teach students up to age 14, the new minimum age to work in the dump. Although this creates a safer environment for the workers, it changes the way they had been living for 30 years. The current situation brings up a lot of questions: How will educated children respond to their uneducated parents’ lifestyle? How many children begin to work at the dump at 14 instead of continuing onto high school? Additionally, the dump will be full in 2 years and 4000 workers will be displaced, what will happen then?

I would recommend that you see this film. It shows a new perspective on an ongoing problem. There are similar communities working on trash heaps around the world, including in Kenya and Nicaragua. Although I feel pity for people who work amongst the trash in poisonous conditions, I admire their resolve to earn money to feed their families. Some of them want to leave but some are content living the only lifestyle they know – they are a community and want to stay that way. I am grateful for the education provided to the children to protect them but I am concerned about the impact this will have on the family dynamics, what new jobs are available, and that it will be an education lost because the children simply return to the dump without hope of moving onward.