Trash

Raphael Fernandez introduces himself as a “dumpsite boy” (3). He has been working, “sifting through rubbish” (3) for eleven years. What he finds most often is stuppa, which is “our word for human muck” (3). Few people in his city have toilets, and most of what makes its way to the dumpsite is human waste. He says he lives in a rubbish town called Behala. People visit occasionally and ask him if he ever finds interesting things. He always says yes, but the real answer is almost always no. He works with a boy named Gardo, looking for things they can sell.

He began working in the trash at age 3. The most valuable things they search for are glass bottles, plastic, clean and white paper, cloth, and rubber. Their lives are almost completely focused on sorting through trash: “You live day to day and hope you don’t get sick. Your life is the hook you carry, there in your hand, turning the trash” (6). Gardo is Raphael’s partner. Gardo looks after him, and they work fast together.