Learn about the World of Trash

Andrew Mulligan's Trash

1848-84191We 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

Wastepicker - Kids on the Dumpsite Stung Mean Chey - 10.
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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To find out more about these charities and the work they do to help people who live on dumpsites, click on one of the links below:

Trash by Andy Mulligan

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Making people aware of the lives of dumpsite children is a key focus of Andy Mulligan’s brand new book Trash.

Watch the video below to hear how and why he wrote the book.

Trash is out now, written by Andy Mulligan and published by David Fickling Books. To find out more visit facebook.com/trashthebook

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