Thoughts, after visiting the people of the Dump
Rutted muddy roads lead to the mountain of garbage at the edge of town. Our driver swerves to the left, then to the right, then back to the left to avoid the huge potholes filled with water. Red pools of standing water remind me of Exodus 7, where God turned the waters of Egypt into blood. The smell of smoke mixing and swirling around with the stench of garbage, assaults the nostrils even before we open the doors to the van. We stepped out of the vehicle, into a world that we’d never imagined, and now will never forget. Dogs, chickens, goats, and pigs root in piles of trash for food. Humans, also, plunder through the mountains of cast-aside thrown-out hauled-off refuse. Seeing one so much like me -- scraping through garbage just to find a morsel to eat -- sent powerful waves through every nerve in my body. Even the tips of my fingers felt that flash that comes with a great shock. A pile of cans, stripped of their labels, sit by the path. Their naked shiny surfaces fade to r...