Children of the Dump

There is a depth of poverty most know nothing about. A poverty impossible to imagine. One that must be witnessed to be understood, and even then the atrocity is so intense it is surreal.

They are the Children of the Dump. And everyday around the world they spend their lives in garbage to survive. They have been abandoned by the world.

Often in bare feet, they walk, climb, dig, prick and prod garbage filled with glass, metal, even hospital waste. They have cuts and bruises. Old enough to walk, they are old enough to be in the Dump. Many are there alone, orphaned by parents who died of illness, some abandoned, some who had no where else to go.

Everyday in the Dumps these children search for anything of value so that their families may eat. When the garbage trucks arrive they run and begin to pick the freshly dropped trash, the acrid smoke choking their lungs.

They seek food to eat. They collect plastic, metal, glass – anything that can be used or sold. Older children can earn upward to $1 each day; the youngest much less.

It is a complex situation to save a child from such circumstances. Although the money they earn is little it means survival to their families. Parents are more than reluctant to lose this income in order to send their children to school. Somehow, in order to rescue these children, their families must continue to survive. Without education the situation will never change as these children will grow up and give birth to future Children of the Dump.

They must be salvaged. These children are filthy and often sick. They have little or no confidence or self-esteem. They will not grow up to be leaders of their communities, doctors, teachers or anything other than Garbage Pickers.

These children need love and care. They need us, working together, to bring life and love to their hopeless lives. They need healthcare, food and most importantly education to break this dreadful chain of poverty.

They are a part of our Global Family of Children. They belong to us just as our own children.

Click here to learn about Children of the La Chureca Dump in Nicaragua and Bless the Children's efforts to help them.