Back home a late night activity of mine is dumpster diving. Under the cover of the dark, some amazing pals and I will head to the dumpsters different stores and check out the treasures tucked away in the trash bags tossed there. One mans trash is another mans treasure is a very true statement in my book! For me dumpster diving has always been a fun thing to do, that is until a few days ago.
We went to a garbage dump in El Milagro, Peru. There at the dump I was sobered to the core. People live in the dump with the filth and stench. There we so many flies that with each step a swarm would be set to flight. The sound of flies buzzing was loud and clear. Back home I steer clear of the dumpsters that stink or have food garbage in them. Here, generation after generation is born, raised, and sent out to scavenge in this massive garbage pile! And this garbage is GROSS! Remember how I said that in Ecuador we threw our used TP in the trash can next to the toilet, well it’s the same here in Peru! And then that trash, along with animal carcasses, and everything else imaginable, ends up in this dump and is sorted through bare handed by these folk who make their living off of the junk they can salvage! Often times baby’s body’s are found dumped in with the garbage. There is a grave yard next to the dump where they are then laid to rest, in above ground mounds, alongside the generational grave yard. Hearing this made me want to cry and vomit at the same time. 🙁
Our visit to the dump, this past time, did not include the centre garbage dump; we only walked through the people’s homes on the outskirts! We spent time with the cute, but filthy, children who where playing with their second hand toys. We put on a little Bible story skit, sang songs, and had a little birthday celebration for the August birthdays. I’m really looking forward to going back and building more relationships with the workers of the dump. The longer I’m here in Peru the more I catch the vision for what God is doing through Inca Link. As I see more of what Inca Link is involved in, I am all the more excited to be a small part of bringing their vision to pass! I know the manual labor I am putting into the children’s home will provide a place for many children, like the ones I saw at the dump, to grow up in safety and with loving care! And more then just physical comfort these children will learn of the amazing, indescribable, love of our precious Savior Jesus Christ!
