Roughly 15 government employees are employed at the Phnom Pehn Municipal Dump. There are another 3,000 that work and live inside the dump as freelance foragers separating cardboard, plastic, glass, steel, aluminum, copper, brass and wood. They in turn sell this sorted material to recyclers. Of these 3,000 freelance entrepreneurs, 1,200 are young children, most of which work outside any form of a nuclear family or parent - or any form of adult supervision.
Kids living and working in the dump tend to work in small groups. The oldest kid, often between nine and fifteen years-old, is usually the boss. The boss' charges are between five and 12-years-old. The five year-old's are often tasked with pulling apart trash-mounds to better expose opportunity only older kids can quickly identify and swiftly sort. Mind you, all this is being carried out by kids in the most minimal of clothes, void of shoes. Anyone with unmatched, ill-fitting 'flip-flops' are among the lucky.
Home on the dump consists of a fragile tarp on sticks without walls, protecting a cardboard floor. Being there is no power in the dump, everyone works until dark. Three-hours before dawn, a fire is stoked and everyone prepares for the first glint of dawn to start again.
Well, that's just wrong. Someone should do something about this!
Most folks, me included, shake our heads...and do nothing. Thank God there are people that not only care but act. I have a case in point here that I find particularly interesting.
The Center for Children to Happiness, just down the street from the dump, help the dump kids in an alluring way. The deal they make with kids is practical under the circumstances: When it gets dark, come over for two-hours a day to learn to read and write maybe clean-up, have a little meal, before going home to the dump.
On several levels, Anna Gabriel is attempting to create compelling video to help raise money to further this project, as well as tell a story inside this effort. While Anna is the daughter of the famed musician, Peter Gabriel, her mission is her own. I respect her efforts and all those folks contributing to Children to Happiness.
Here are some photographs both Chean Long and I took attempting to get our head around both the dump experience and the Children to Happiness Center.
Deep in the dump.
Much of the dump is endless mountains of ever smoldering hell with acrid smoke. One step out of the car on our arrival and I turned on my heals and was back in the car in two-seconds. Not only was the smell smoky and putrid, it smelled just dangerously - wrong. My good friend Chean Long and my driver Sok Phea both wanted to explore despite the unsettling fragrance. The above photographs are by Chean Long.
Making friends with kids at Center for Children to Happiness.
Chean Long and Anna Gabriel
A 'gas station' out front. Very common manner to 'fill-up' the gas sipping 'moto'.
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