dumpsite children around the world

8/18/2019 Dumpsite Children Around the World

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Wesley Methodist School

Kuala Lumpur

( International )

Topic: Dumpsite Children Around The World

Name: leasa !eh Wei Shen

Class: " #amma

Teacher$s Name: Ms% Manusha

!e&ore I start to tal' a out the topic I$d li'e to share some photos o& the dumpsite children

around us:


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*irst I$d share +Li&e in a Cam odian ru ish dump$ this ,as ,ritten y Amy Simmons

,hom ,rote a out the story o& -a.ana a phto/rapher spendin/ se.en months in the

dumpsite o& Cam odia /ettin/ to 'no, the people there%

0hoto: Children and parents si&t &or &ood%

In total there ,ere a out 122 people ,or'in/ there most o& ,hom also sleep eat and drin'

there% A&ter ,or'in/ &or se.eral months in the dumps -a.anah e.en sa, a child irth% 34 per

cent o& the total population li.in/ on less than 56 a day ho,e.er those in the dumps can at

least &ind &ood and shelter they earn a out 31 cents per day &or 64 hours o& ,or'% They are

nomads they mo.e &rom dump to dump ,hen the one they$re at is &ull normally e.ery &our

years or so% They spend their ,hole li&es li.in/ in dumps they 7ust mo.e &rom one to another%

0hoto: A youn/ /irl smiles surrounded y ,aste%

8ne day in Cam odia a oy told

-a.ana he had een li.in/ &or

many years in the ru ish dumps%

-a.ana tried to /et permission to

.isit them ut ,as re7ected so she

made a decision to /o ,ithout

permission% What she sa, there

,as &rom another ,orld%

They are normal people most o&

the little children are a/ed et,een

3 and 61 and they are al,ays

smilin/ 9 that ,as ,hat shoc'ed-a.ana the most%


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The smell o& the dump is so stron/ that it /ets into your throat you can e.en taste the smell

your eyes ,ill ecome &ull o& tears% It is a,&ul ut ,ith time you ,ill /et use to it% 8ne day a

little oy carryin/ a a/ o& lood as'ed -a.anah ,hy does the people in her country ne.er

smiles% -a.anah didn$t 'no, ,hat to ans,er% While that little oy loo'ed at the lood he ,as

carryin/ as a treasure to eat he e plained to -a.anah +I smile all the time I$m luc'y% Today

I$m /oin/ to eat this and tomorro, I ,ill see the sun a/ain%$

0hoto: A oy sho,s o&& his &ind%

!asically the dump is their shoppin/ centre% .erythin/ that they need to sur.i.e comes &rom

the dump% They told -a.anah that they are luc'y i& they &ound ananas ecause they are

clean under the s'in%

They seem immune &rom the

ru ish% Normal sic'ness is rare

more common is to su&&er &rom cuts

and ruises as most o& the children

are are&oot in the middle o& tonnes

o& ru ish%

-a.anah says that she calls

Cam odia the *or/otten World%

With photo/raphy ,e cannot

chan/e the ,orld ut ,e can

chan/e minds and touch hearts%

That is the reason ,hy she is a

photo/rapher; to /i.e a .oice to

those in silence%


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Ne t I$d share the e periences o&


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0hoto:


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it’s a page – turner that will expose you to some pretty unpleasant things and will get yourheart racing!

I 'no, you ha.e done a lot o& tra.ellin/ and ha.e .isited se.eral dumpsites 9 ,hat ,as ita out them thst inspired you to ,rite TrashB

The image of children crawling in rubbish. imple as that – it’s a scene from The Inferno, it’sa circle of hell. ou see these kids, often "ust in shorts, with a hook. They are doomed to siftthose xxxxheaps all day, in rain or sun. #nd next to the seven year$old is the seven year$old’s

grandfather, stil sifting – and you reali%e you’re looking at that child’s destiny. The dumpsitesare the most extreme reminders I’ve ever seen that our world is insane.

The characters o& aphael #aldo and at are incredi ly en/a/in/ 9 please tell me they are ased on real people you ha.e met%

es, they are. I tend to fuse individuals together, so that &for example' (at is two boys – one avery derelict "unkie twelve year$old in )anila, fused into one of the ost ingenious childcrooks I ever met in *alcutta. The common$ denominator is this survival instinct, this feralneed to win in a situation. +hen you have nothing to fall back on – when there’s no parent orteacher or policeman to help you up and take you home – you don’t have the luxury despair.

ou use the skills you have – your brain, your charm, your speed – and you have to win something, "ust so you can eat.

Why did you decide to tell the story in the .oices o& the di&&erent characters rather then 7ustaphael$sB

I don’t know. I tried a third person voice and it didn’t work, so I abandoned it very uickly. I found the voice of (aphael, and en"oyed his voice – but it soon felt limited. I love him dearly,but he’s got a limited perception of what’s going on – so a graver, more experienced voicehad to balance it. That was -ardo. Then, suddenly, it seemed a really interesting way of

getting different sides of the story. )y main fear was annoying the reader by wasting time orbeing tricksy – I wanted to keep the plot motoring, simply because I get so bored of booksthat don’t think they need plots I tried to make the narrators tell us the facts, almost like

police statements/ this is what we decided, so that is what we did

Trash is a crac'in/ mystery ad.enture story ,ith plenty o& humour ut also in.ol.es a lar/ede/ree o& social comment 9 do you thin' it is important that children are e posed to issuesli'e this in their &ictionB

es. 0o. I don’t know. I think children en"oy books that lift them out of their own world. +hen I was growing up I loved 1nid 2lyton because she took me to baording schools and I went toa boring day – school. I loved *arrie’s +ar because 0ina 2awden pluged me into wartime,where the protangonists encountered such new things. I really hate’issue books’, and I’vehad to teach them – they are miserably thin gruel. Take a book like 3ouis acher’s 45oles’ –it’s not a book about crime and punishment, or racism, or keeping promises, or any of that

school$assembly bilge. It’s about children in an extreme situation, dealing with it. 0o – I havedecided the answer – no I do not think children need to be exposed to 4issues’$ I think they


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need to be exposed to good stories and good characters, and if the characters are real thenthe issues will be there.

.

Thank ou


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dumpsite children around the world

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