Let me set the scene for you:
Hours before we had gathered food, clothes, and sleeping bags and left our home in a taxi. It had already been dark for hours. We drove to the outskirts of town, and ended up at a little mud brick house with little but desert and the city dump in sight. Chi Chi, our host for the evening, showed the four of us the rickety ladder that would lead to our upstairs bedroom. We knew we only had a few hours until we needed to be awake again, but the mattress on the gaping plank floor would be a welcome rest until then. At 12am our alarm went off and the four of us – Vanessa, Katie, Will, and I – began dressing for the task at hand. We wore tennis shoes, pants, long sleeves, gloves, hats, scarves around our mouths, 
and t-shirts wrapped ninja-style around our heads. With nothing but our eyes showing, we grabbed our headlamps and piled into Chi Chi’s little moto-car. From there we drove with the lights off, into the area where we would be working for the night.
We were working the night shift at the city dump.
As we got closer to the landscape of trash, you could see little fires in the distance with a few people crowded around them. In other areas, like the one we were driving towards, you could see headlamps illuminating little piles of trash. Despite the drizzling rain, there were a number of us there and we were all there for the same purpose – to find as many treasure in the trash as we could. Chi Chi, his brother José, and the four of us, waited in the dark until the first dump truck arrived. People hurried to gather around the back of the truck, and as soon as it opened, they all worked to pull the trash out into two big piles. From there, they separated the garbage into sections and each person or group had a portion that was theirs to go through. As we ope
ned each bag, we sifted through rotten food, toilet paper, plastics, used diapers, and cow parts in search of recyclable items. The stench was strong, the things we were walking in, picking up, and even searching for, were disgusting. The thing was that we were visitors – but this was their life. Chi Chi was only in his early 30s, but he had been working at the dump for over 20 years.
Spending time with Chi Chi reminded all of us that no matter where we are or what we do with our life, we are all more alike than we think. My dad works in an office and Chi Chi works in a city dump, but both men love the Lord and work hard to provide for their families. They both do honest work and trust God to provide their needs and the needs of their families. Both men have a sense of humor and are great conversationalists. For the most part, I only saw one ma
in difference between the life my dad is able to live and Chi Chi’s life, and that is my dad, for the most part, has a choice in his vocation while Chi Chi’s is dictated by his upbringing and environment. That was one of the only things that made me truly sad while spending time with my host, because I know that I take the options and choices in my life for granted.
