In the local garbage dump for our city there are several families and many children living and working there, about 125 of them. They wait for the trucks to come and then dig through the garbage looking for food and other valuable things that can be recycled for money. Most of them live right in the middle of the city dump without electricity, without water.
Currently each week we provide a nutritious meal, formula for the babies, we build relationships with each of them, and most importantly sharing God’s love. We are currently providing lunch each week while building relationships with them and sharing the love of Christ.
Here’s what we are doing…
There are about 85 children who work or live in the dump or within the area around the dump. There are also 42 babies under 5 years old registered in our program who are in the dump with their mothers while they are working.
Children gather around to sing songs together. It’s a great time to take a break from working and allows them to just be kids! They love singing and dancing!!
A short bible story is told to the children and after they color a picture about the story. They love learning about God and also enjoy coloring.
We also share with them the importance of education and encourage them to learn. It is so great to watch them sit and listen each week, eager to learn a new story!
There was no clean water at the dump leaving people to drink water from bottles found in the trash. Also, there was no way to wash their hands after digging through the garbage.
Here were are installing a Rotoplas (water tank) which will be filled with clean water for people to use. This is the larger one of the two installed.
Now that the Rotoplas has been installed, they now have clean water. We are teaching them the importance of hygiene and the benefits for their health. Here we are showing them the proper way to thoroughly wash their hands. Before we serve food, they form lines to wash their hands with soap and fresh water from the tank.
Many times the families eat the food from the trash. Cooking and eating the chicken people threw away because it went bad. This has caused many health problems. They eat whatever they can find no matter what it is. Each week we are providing a nutritious meal for them to eat. Our goal is to increase our support allowing for more meals.
Many babies at the dump do not wear disposable diapers due to the expense causing them to use pieces of cloth as a substitute or often bare bottomed. Not having proper coverage causes for messes.
We were able to donate brand new cloth diapers to each of the moms and taught them how to properly use them!
Altogether there are about 200 people who receive help from this area of our ministry.