Tags / Childhood

Young girl plays with a plastic toy gun in a village near Cebu City, Philippines.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Around 400 people, about the half of them children, are forced to work illegally on one of the biggest garbage dumps of Delhi, India earning just a few cents everyday for sorting the garbage of one of the biggest cities in India.

Coco Bertin in front of cjarc

A cjarc classroom with Bertin at the back

A cjarc pupil playing the drum

Coco Bertin in his office at CJARC

Viku Tupse is 9 years old. Among the trash, he found a broken face of Mickey Mouse. He knows that this will pull on the heartstrings of tourists and puts it on the head. He does not understand why tourists visit the garbage dump where he works, but he likes the candies that they give him. He has lived in the landfill for two years.

A group of tourists is lead through the landfill in Siem Reap, Cambodia where many children work sorting trash.

Sau Srey Neang is 11 years old and has three brothers and one sister younger. She has gone over a half a year without hearing from her father, who went to work to Thailand. She knows that her family needs help, but she wants to continue studying to be a teacher. This is her first year working in the landfill.

A group of tourists disturb children working in the garbage dump of Anlong Pi while the children are resting. The tourists, visiting this landfill as part of their package vacation to Cambodia, take pictures of the children with their cameras and phones. Their tour route offers a visit to the garbage dump where children work alongside adults in extreme poverty and dangerous conditions, allowing them to take pictures with the children. The landfill is located a few kilometers from Siem Reap, the most famous tourist destination in Cambodia, for the temples of Angkor.

Hael Kemra is 15 years old. In the future she wants to be an English teacher. She began working at the dump at 10 years old. Her mother took her to the garbage dump to earn money when her father abandoned them.

Children and their parents, all are landfill workers. They scavenge in the trash and look for recyclable materials inside the garbage dump with a metal hook attached to a wooden stick, walking behind a bulldozer. Tons of waste arrive daily to garbage dump of Anlong Pi from the tourist destination of Siem Reap. Largely for economic reasons, children are forced to work at the landfill by their parents. Some study in the mornings, and in the afternoons they will work at the landfill.

A Japanese tourist gets his picture taken with children working in the garbage dump by his hiking mates. Tourists take pictures and give candies to children. This group of Japanese tourist are medical students who have come to the dump Anlog Pi on their tour rote.

Lia Neang Syer is 14 years old. She began working in the garbage dumb at 10 years old. She could not continue studying, because she had no money to pay for books and extra lessons. She has two sisters and one younger brother, and her mother also works at the garbage dump. She does not like the job, but she is forced to work because her family needs the money to live. Behind her, other children look for plastic and metal to sell.