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OBJECTIVE: Documenting the lives of children who live at a Nicaraguan landfill working as human garbage sorters helping their families collect recyclables from the trash.

In the summer of 2009, I went to Nicaragua to do some documentary work. What I found was a story about families who were living and working at the landfills of the major cities--I focused on Chinandega in the northwest--the first chapter of which can be found here: http://www.jonkgoering.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=1

I was saddened by the fact that the children were not going to school and saw how quickly young childhood determination and resolve to make the best out of any situation soon turned to despair, often resulting in turning to drugs such as sniffing glue, and stealing. A lack of education or training locks the children into this life, for this is all they know.

I had the time that summer to finish an introduction into the lives of these families. But I need help with funding in order to continue with this documentary project.

These children and their families work hard as human garbage sorters to separate the recyclables from the rest of the garbage, a function that could easily be done by machines or with a pre-sorting system. In fact, the government of Nicaragua is taking steps to implement this kind of a system. But at the same time, little is being done to implement a system that would ensure that these families who make their living off of the dump would have an alternative means of income. It's hard to imagine that their situation could get much worse, but if care is not taken, the possibility is definitely there.

The children at the dump have their future invested entirely in the dump. They can't go to school because the working hands they provide are too valuable to the families. Without an education or training and skills of any kind, they are forced to continue this work in order to survive. What will these children do if there are no more bottles to be collected in the trash?

The project that I am proposing would document the current lives of the families living at the dump, bringing greater awareness and sympathy for the hardships that they face to the public, both inside of Nicaragua and abroad. I would also examine what might happen to these people if a system of pre-sorting recyclables from useless garbage were to be implemented without proper care for those that depend upon the income from selling the collected bottles.

Having already worked on the first chapter of this story, I have already made a number of contacts and have already successfully gained access to the lives of the families at the landfill. The money that is raised will go towards covering the costs of producing this project, both in the logistics of getting to and staying at the project site as well as covering the costs of putting together gallery shows both in Nicaragua and in the U.S. where the project will be shown. These costs include: airfare to and from project site, living expenses while on site, hiring of local fixer and assistant to help during production, printing costs for shows in galleries, including the cost of paper, ink, and framing supplies.

The final project would be displayed in a number of different outlets, including art galleries both in Nicaragua and in the U.S., on the Internet in the form of still photos and multimedia, including video and audio clips, in a Nicaraguan art and culture magazine, and in as many other forms as possible. The donations would also allow the materials produced during this project to be used, free of charge, by various non-profit organizations invested in helping these children. The materials produced would aid the organizations in spreading the word about the kinds of lives these children lead, and what the organization is trying to do to help. The goal is to raise awareness about the situation that these families are in as well as raise the pressure for the interests of these families to be considered in future policy formation and program implementation.

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