Learn about the World of Trash

We don’t really think about trash that much – afterall it’s something you want to throw away.

However, there is a world where trash is people’s entire lives. Children live and work on dumpsites all over the world, such as the huge Jardim Gramacho landfill in Brazil and the Deonar site in Mumbai.

Here are some fascinating facts about their lives:

It is thought that several million children live on dumpsites around the world – mostly between the ages of 5 and 17.
They are taught to scavenge anything that can be sold – from old tin cans and plastic bottles that can be recycled, to perhaps something more valuable, like an old purse. Their scavenging can mean a second meal for their family that day.
Their houses are often built from the rubbish, using boxes and wood which they can find to make alls and roofs
These dumpsite children must find everything on the dump because they have no possession of their own. Quite often they are refugees from a war or natural disasters
Many children never get to attend school, making it hard for them ever to escape the dumpsite
As you can imagine living on a dumpsite isn’t healthy and they are often likely to get sick from different diseases

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Luckily there are some great charities out there making a real difference to these children, like Dumpsite Kids Project by Volunteer for the Visayans, Bethlehem Day Care Centre, and also larger charities such as UNICEF.
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