Garbage Dump
This month in addition to the hours and hours spent doing
construction we get to spend one day a week at the local garbage dump in Trujillo. We spend the afternoon there with the kids
living outside the dump doing a small scale VBS. We tell them stories, sing songs, play games,
and finished off the afternoon by giving them cake for their birthdays.
construction we get to spend one day a week at the local garbage dump in Trujillo. We spend the afternoon there with the kids
living outside the dump doing a small scale VBS. We tell them stories, sing songs, play games,
and finished off the afternoon by giving them cake for their birthdays.
At the dump people sort through the trash finding anything
they can collect to sell. Until recently
these people lived and worked in the dump with their kids right beside
them. New laws have been passed recently
banning anyone from living in the dump as well as banning kids from entering the
dump. So outside the dump these people
have built a mini-city with anything they could. They live in houses made of trash, metal, or
thatch. Their kids roam outside the dump
while their parents spend their days sorting through the trash. Most of the adults at the dump have spent
their entire lives there. They were born
there, they grew up there, they got married there, and they raised their kids
there, and most will die and will be buried at the cemetery right outside the
dump. Most of their kids will also end
up living the same lives as their parents.
They will spend the rest of their lives sorting through the trash. It is a generational cycle of extreme poverty
that most will never escape.
they can collect to sell. Until recently
these people lived and worked in the dump with their kids right beside
them. New laws have been passed recently
banning anyone from living in the dump as well as banning kids from entering the
dump. So outside the dump these people
have built a mini-city with anything they could. They live in houses made of trash, metal, or
thatch. Their kids roam outside the dump
while their parents spend their days sorting through the trash. Most of the adults at the dump have spent
their entire lives there. They were born
there, they grew up there, they got married there, and they raised their kids
there, and most will die and will be buried at the cemetery right outside the
dump. Most of their kids will also end
up living the same lives as their parents.
They will spend the rest of their lives sorting through the trash. It is a generational cycle of extreme poverty
that most will never escape.
The kids there live rough lives. They are filthy and covered in dust and
dirt. Very rarely do they crack a
smile. Many of them have a look of
hopelessness on their faces, but in all their hopelessness they are precious
and need love.
dirt. Very rarely do they crack a
smile. Many of them have a look of
hopelessness on their faces, but in all their hopelessness they are precious
and need love.
But there is hope in the garbage dump. Inca Link has started a sponsorship program
for the kids in the dump. A few days a
week they escape the dump and spend the day at their daycare. There they are able to play in a safe
environment, learn, eat clean whole meals, and are just loved on by the daycare
workers and the gringos who come visit them.
for the kids in the dump. A few days a
week they escape the dump and spend the day at their daycare. There they are able to play in a safe
environment, learn, eat clean whole meals, and are just loved on by the daycare
workers and the gringos who come visit them.
