The Dump

This image says it all for the people who live at the dump. Most are ethnically Khmer and are ostracized from society (I am not sure because they are Khmer or because they live at the dump -- probably both). They make their living as you might guess, by sifting through the trash and collecting recyclables. To say that the dump was a humbling experience would be a gross understatement. I stood for a long time looking in the direction this photo was taken before I was even aware that this woman was sitting here.

Someone's home.

And their rooster...

This was heartbreaking to see. A tiny three month old baby languishing in the heat. The day before, this baby was brought to our clinic by the grandmother (holding the infant). It turned out that he was born two months premature, so was in fact equivalent to a one month old. The grandmother was asking for formula, but given that they lived at the dump, they had no access to bottled water. It was an impossible situation. I am not sure in the end what was prescribed for this infant, but seeing the family's living conditions was really hard on everyone, especially the nurses and translators who had been helping this family the previous day.

This was where the baby, grandmother and family lived.

Another family.

Fish drying on the fence. There was a really dirty canal on the side of the fence where the dump families lives and a cleaner pond of water on the other side of the fence, and I hope these fish came from that side.

And jeans drying on the fence as well.

A lone reminder of Christmas.