is an entire family’s only hope for survival. Trust me, it’s far from treasure.
Our first morning in Rivas, Nicaragua was spent in the city’s dump. Our ministry, passing out sandwiches and juice. The dump is exactly what you would expect it to be. There is trash piled up everywhere. Those that have spent any significant amount of time in Central America know that toilet paper is not flushed here (it clogs up the pipes). Instead, people dispose of their waste in trash bins conveniently located at the side of each toilet. Where does that trash go… That’s right, the city dump is filled with ever kind of foul thing known to man kind.
So why are there people walking around in the dump? The answer became immediately apparent when the first trash truck arrived. The people anxiously awaited for the truck to drop it’s cargo (there were even a few people pulling bags from the top with their pitchforks before the truck stopped). The moment the trash leaves the truck, everyone frantically swarms the pile. They all know how to play by the rules, but it’s clear that this isn’t a game. It’s serious business, and it’s competitive. They are searching for plastic bottles, glass bottles, and cardboard. They can earn a little money for their families by collecting these recyclable items and selling them to a middleman that sets up shop just next to the dump.
So what’s the going rate for recyclables here in Nicaragua?
1 lb of cardboard = 2.5 cordobas
1 lb of plastic bottles or glass bottles = 3.5 cordobas
Brad, I don’t know what that means. Speak dollars to me.
Exchange Rate: 1 US Dollar = 26 Cordobas
1 lb of cardboard = 9.6 cents
1 lb of plastic bottles or glass bottles = 13.5 cents
Freakonomics
|
Weekly Income |
Equivalent Cardboard (lbs) |
Equivalent Plastic or Glass (lbs) |
|
$10.00 |
104 |
74 |
|
$20.00 |
208 |
148 |
|
$30.00 |
312 |
222 |
|
$40.00 |
416 |
296 |
|
$50.00 |
520 |
370 |
A family of four can average about $27 a week, that’s $0.96 per person per day. Sunrise to sunset, in the pouring rain, they work in the trash to provide just enough for their families to survive.
– Take that in for a moment –
Their resources are scarce
The city trash truck is scheduled to come four times a day. Beyond that, any extra trash comes from private dumpers. If trash is scarce they are forced to search through the piles that have already been scavenged to look for any materials that may have been overlooked. Every night, they burn as much trash as they can so that there is always more room for trucks to come.
Their profits are unpredictable
All of the materials they collect are sold to a middleman once a week. The middleman comes with his truck and transports the materials to a plant where they are processed and recycled. Every middleman has their own price, and I dare say some of them probably take a little extra off of the top.
The danger is real
Like I said previously, the dump is home to every kind of foul thing you can imagine. I was told that a trash truck came from the hospital and dumped a whole load of placentas and other bio-hazardous materials. It rendered an entire area of the dump unusable. One man told me that he had been working there for 15 years, and he was really good at recognizing explosives. If something was to ever go off, they would just be blown away. He calls the police whenever he finds something. Our ministry hosts have tried to offer the workers face masks and gloves, but they don’t want to use them. People dig through the trash with their bare hands, and I’ve even seen several people wearing crocks.
The people are real
This job is generational, and it’s a vicious cycle. In the dump families work side by side. I saw a 3 month old baby being taken care of by her mother, while the rest of the family worked in the trash. I saw a grandfather give his grandson his glass of juice with a smile on his face. These may be some of the most hard working people I have ever seen in my entire life. I can’t help thinking about the masses of homeless people back in Boulder. I’m sure that some days they make more in a hour than these families will make in a week [side note, Jesus still loves the homeless and the church ought to look for even more sustainable ways of helping them]. The people here may not feel it, but they ought to have pride in their work. Their chains are a lack of education and opportunity, not desire to work.
I was thoroughly impressed with the way they accepted a sandwich and a glass of juice. They didn’t rush to us when we entered. They watched from a distance and waited for us to walk to each of them individually. That’s a far cry from what I experienced within our squad last month. As soon as a bag of chips was opened, or second servings became available, we turned into a pack of wolves on the prey. They never asked for the food. They simply allowed the Lord to provide. When a truck arrived, they put there hunger on hold to attend to their work.
It’s not fair. We don’t deserve better. We could have just as easily been born there.
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
Isaiah 58:6-9
