Chakorá


  • Photographer
    Heinrich Wegmann
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Date of Photograph
    2012

Chakorá01: Tabitna Kendi, 29 years old; Luhya ethnic; worked for 12 years in the dumping. Chakora02: waste people with marubus Chakora03: Veronika Wangari; 14 years old; Kikuyu ethnic; worked for 14 years in the dumping. One of the many girls what have to provide for the life support in the family. Chakora04: Judi Kerubo; 12; Kisii ethnic; worked for 3 months in the dumping; 80% are women and children Chakora05: Plastic bags swhirl in the air. 700 tons are unloaded each day. The “Chokora” recover 2 tons, The rest has over time created a lunar type landscape, with hills and valleys. There are never ending tongues of fire, clouds of smoke and the fermentation of the organic materials create toxic gases.

Story

In Nairobi, when you leave the centre behind you and walk for quite a while towards the east, sooner or later you arrive at Korogocho, the second slum in the city with more or less 500,000 inhabitants. After crossing this labyrinth of clay shacks covered by rusted iron sheets, you arrive at the Nairobi river, a flow of black slime. One gets the feeling of attracting all possible sicknesses at just one look. Behind it, you find a large stretch of land, measuring about 30 hectares, the dumping site of Nairobi. There you meet the “Chokorà”, the people of the garbage dumpsite. 2500 people, the larger part of which consists of women and children, who day after day immerse themselves in the garbage to recover what they can for survival, earn between 1€ per day.

If you think that is no man´s land, you are very wrong, the whole territory is divided. There are gangs which are dominant and control the functioning of the area. The dumping site is also under their control. It is they who indicate to the garbage trucks where they should dump their garbage, it is they who decide where the “Chokora” work. It is they give the permission to enter and it is clear that you must pay for your security because a “Mzungu” - white man – is a rare animal in this part of the world.

700 tonnes are unloaded each day. The “Chokora” recover 2 tonnes and the rest remains at the disposition of Marabou storks and pigs. The rest has over time created a lunar type landscape, with hills, valleys and garbage covered lakes, witch are continually changing. On one part, there are never ending tongues of fire, clouds of smoke and the fermentation of the organic materials create toxic gases. Often, the clouds of smoke are so thick that one cannot see the sun and from one angle one sees ghostline outlins of the collectors and the animals rummaging in the garbage.

“Chokora” is a part of the project “Catadores do Mundo”, which began in the “lixào do Roger” dumpsite in Joan Pessoa in Brasil and continues in different continents.
A project to enlighten and to give the possibility to compare ones life with others lives, to start an internal walk. A project to sensitize, to give voice, a shout to the ones who prefer to work in the dumping sites instead of resorting to stealing or something else in this direction. A project that shows that also in misery one can live in dignity, something rare in our society. A project that reminds us, that we don`t need much to lives on. A roof over heats and a hot meal is enough. That makes us understand that garbage is a crucial indicator for understanding the human being, the population, the cultures of the different civilizations. Let as imagine being forced to keep what we have, not being allowed to throw anything away.

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