Visiting the Children

Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved we were able to finish what was on our agenda a day early and bring the entire production of the library a month in advance. With the help of some of the team members, their camcorders, and their barely capable Vietnamese we went on a special mission to interview some of the families living in the dump. Our objective was to learn more about their lifestyle. Where they use the bathroom, what brought them there, why they have to stay there and what’s in store for their future.

What was quite scary is that these families have to pay rent to live there as well as work for the man in charge of the dump. Just about every villager spends their time rubbishing through fresh garbage so they can sell plastic bags to him. In return he pays them for the bags and offers "cheap" rent. Many of these families I found out make less than a dollar a day when you combine the efforts of both parents and their 2 or more children. In addition to just interviewing the families we were able to witness the peak work hours at the dump.

The sun was beginning to set when one of the garbage trucks started to arrive bringing with them a fresh load of just about anything that can be found in a garbage truck. Children ran out of their homes at top speed and parents yelled at their kids to get them to the drop off area in time. When the truck had finally finished backing up the villagers climbed onto the truck and dove into the pile as it was being poured. I was surprised that no one was knocked down and buried when I saw countless heads deep into the bottom of the fresh pile.

After everything was finally dumped out I couldn’t see much of that fresh pile anymore. Now it’s a sea of people using their hooks to pull apart whatever was in front of them. Those without hooks used their gloved hands. Those without gloves used their bare hands. This rummaging went on until everyone was convinced that there was nothing else to bring home. Parents went back to lounging in their huts and children back to running around the mountains barefoot awaiting the next fresh batch.

Wrapping up our interviews the 3 teams all learned pretty similar things. The families go to the bathroom wherever they want including the same ocean that they bathe and clean their food in. Each family lives in the dump because they do not own any identification papers so they’re considered "illegal aliens" in their own country. Because of that they aren’t able to find legitimate jobs or attend any kind of schooling. That leads to 99% of the village not being able to read or write. The children’s spirits are still high though and many of them are able to have dreams. Very simple but as of right now hard to read dreams. Becoming an elementary school teacher or just being able to live in a real home. I’m signing off now and hope that Anna and Huy can add on to this soon.

Don Hoang
“The” Catalyst Foundation Volunteer