Catalyst provides financial support, school scholarships and food to a community in Rach Gia who has been living in the garbage dump. Caroline explained to us earlier in the week that the government had closed down the original dump which is near the school and housing we built for them (see my earlier blog on March 28). We visited the new dump today. It is more spread out and flat then the old dump and not as many family shacks were visible. We wandered around and took photos and talked to some of the individuals who were living there via our translators. Anna was with us and she shared a few of the stories of the families with us. There was a young couple (21 and 23) who were married a few years ago. She said she was living with her mom in Saigon but had moved to the south to get married. The couple had a young baby and said that this was the only work they could find. Anna didn’t want to pry too much so we don’t know how they fell on hard times. There was also a woman with another small baby who was on her own. While were there, the garbage truck arrived and dumped its load. The families went to work immediately sorting through the garbage and collecting any recyclables they could sell or food they could eat. It is hard to fathom that people have to live this way and there is not another option.
This post has really brought home to me how important what Catalyst is doing, is to the families there in Vietnam. The whole situation is sobering. Thank you for sharing so much of your experience on this blog Susan.
ReplyDelete