People of the Dump

It was not quite as grim as a Mumbai slum, but the Ixtapa dump visit today was quite an experience. A small community of people living in incredibly basic, primitive conditions working to scavenge, salvage, recycle, reprocess and sift the truckloads of garbage the rest of us produce. Metal. Aluminum cans. Plastic water bottles. Plastic bags by the millions. Retired furniture. Retired clothing and shoes. On and on. There were grandparents, parents and children some of which, judging by their reddish hair, were a little malnourished. Still, by some miracle, smiles. So much poignancy.

More people of the dump. The whole larger than usual Flickr set.

BTW Thanks for putting yesterday's "Leather" man into the spotlight for a few hours. His tan deepened as a result.