Around 1500 people currently live at the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua. 53% of the people who live there are under the age of 18. The people build their homes out of scrap metal- each piece tied together by barbed wire. Plastic, cardboard, and rotten food sustain the families that live and work in the mountains of burning waste. Every year 900 tons of trash are brought into the dump; people wait for the arrival of their livelihood each day with dangerous anticipation, oftentimes “attacking” the trash trucks before they begin to unload their contents.
Families typically work in the dump from daybreak to dusk. Children and adults spend their days searching through the piles of trash, looking for objects of value: aluminum, plastic, and glass all yield about 2 to 4 cordobas a pound (sixteen cordobas is almost one dollar). On most days, a family will collect a few pounds. While children begin working around the age of 4, incrementally increasing their responsibilities each year, another sect of the population begins an entirely different work environment: prostitution. At the foot of the dump site, a build up of wooden and plastic shacks house the prostitutes and glue-addicts who sell their bodies to trash truck drivers for the “new” trash. Glue sniffing is taken as a “debut” drug, mostly because it is readily available and cheap. Typical reasons given by its users include distraction from hunger and low self-esteem. Common side effects of this hallucinogen include long term illnesses of the brain and nervous system.
The nearby lake at the dump where animals defecate and bacteria-ridden runoff washes is where women, men and children wash their clothes, bathe, and fish. Severe skin funguses, ear infections, parasites, and other diseases spread among the people who encounter this water. Children are affected the most by the dirty water. A common disease among children is lead poisoning. After being ingested, lead enters the bloodstream and is absorbed and stored in many tissues and organs in the body, including the liver, kidneys, brain, teeth and bones. Children experience headaches, fatigue, hyperactivity, vomiting, diarrhea, and learning disabilities, among many other symptoms. With the literacy rate among the lowest in all of Managua (which already boasts an illiteracy rate of 32.6%), the results of lead poisoning are incredibly damaging to the educational capacity of the young children who live at the dump.
The source of food in La Chureca also leads to malnutrition. Many of the children have light colored hair - a key attribute of malnutrition when the body cannot sustain the production of melanosomes in the hair follicles. In addition to the bacteria and filth that cause severe health problems among the people at the dump, the air quality also impacts respiratory health. Over the years, planes dumped fuel and chemicals over the waste to burn the excess trash. The ash and smoke that resulted created incredibly toxic air.
While a clinic does reside at the dump, the medical supplies are sparse. Given the host of health problems, it is alarming that the health facility sometimes cannot provide pain medication, skin infection cream, vitamins, parasite medicine, or any of the medications to combat lead poisoning or respiratory diseases. Knowing beforehand that visits to the clinic may not help alleviate their health problems, most Chureca residents feel their time is better spent working in the dump piles, trying to provide a meal for their families.
The key component for any health recovery is a two-fold approach: prevention and treatment. At this point, there is little that Manna Project can do to fix the source of the problem, which is the dump itself; however, through health education with the community leaders and facilitating visits to the clinic, there is hope that the people will help themselves. In addition to promoting lectures regarding issues such as personal hygiene and disease prevention, we aim to help the clinic become self-sustainable. While prevention is key, a more permanent, stable and reliable clinic promises the continuation of better health for La Chureca’s inhabitants. Manna Project is working with the Nicaraguan foundation, Funjofudess, to aspire toward these goals. Funjofudess is supported by a Belgium NGO, Solidarité Socialiste, whose main goal is to 'build peace, democracy and social justice.' The clinic was also supported by the German Embassy, which donated money to build a lecture room on the back side of the clinic. Up until August, 2005, the clinic had been open three days a week from 8-12 in the morning. Now the doctor and nurse are there five days a week.
With the help of the clinic's nurse and doctor, we are actively profiling the diseases in the community, specifically among children, in order to match donors with those in need. As of August 2005, primarily with the nurse's guidance, we are sponsoring nearly thirty five needy children with milk, oatmeal and vitamins, along with ordering special blood tests and other lab tests that are prescribed by the doctor. While this matching system promises aid for individuals, it is our goal to outfit the clinic to run independently of Manna’s support.
Read more about our Child Sponsorship Program in La Chureca.
