Lila’s:
It
started out as a normal morning. Our
schedule said we would be going to a Jewelry and Handcraft Business called Lila’s. When we arrived at the workshop, we were met
by Gelila who began telling her story.
Five years ago she had just graduated from Nursing School and could not
find a job in her field so she began working as a tour guide in Addis. When she visited the TB Hospital and Dump
Site she decided she had to do something.
Lila tells her story best:
After we visited Lila’s workshop, she offered to take
us to the Dump where the landslide occurred.
Here is how NY Times described the scene on March 8, 2017. ‘It was not immediately clear what caused
the landslide at the Koshe Garbage Landfill, which buried several makeshift
homes and concrete buildings. The landfill has been a dumping ground for the
capital’s garbage for more than 50 years.
About 150 people were there when the
landslide occurred, said Assefa Teklemahimanot, a resident. Mayor Diriba Kuma
said 37 people had been rescued and were receiving medical treatment. Two had
serious injuries.
Many people at the landfill had been
scavenging items to make a living, but others live at the site because renting
homes there, which are largely built of mud and sticks, is relatively
inexpensive.
“In the long
run,” Mr. Kuma said, “we will conduct a resettling program to relocate people
who live in and around the landfill.”
Around 500
waste-pickers are believed to work at the landfill every day, sorting through
the debris from the capital’s estimated four million residents. City officials
say that close to 300,000 tons of waste are collected each year from the capital,
most of it dumped at the landfill.
Since 2010,
city officials have warned that the landfill is running out of room and is
being hemmed in by nearby housing and schools.
City officials
have been trying in recent years to turn the garbage into a source of clean
energy with a $120 million investment. The Koshe waste-to-energy center, which
has been under construction since 2013, is expected to generate 50 megawatts of
electricity when completed.
Now, an
update. We walked with Gelila. She turned and said, ‘No pictures, there is a
newly imposed ban on pictures.’ We
walked through the area where she had first set up her workshop. On the one side behind tall, thick walls are
homes of rich, wealthy people. On the
other side of the road, living shelters made with any steel, cardboard or
plastic people can find. Goats were
running freely. Then we came to the area
where they are actively removing 50 year old compost looking for bodies. We were careful where to step because
oversized dump trucks were hauling loads of debris away and dropping large
chunks of black goop. The stench was
unbearable. I hate it when flies crawl
around my nose but my problems were minor!
Most dump truck drivers and back hoe operators were wearing face mask
covers. The army soldiers lined the
walkways armed with long guns. Two large
fire trucks were parked on a side street.
They are still finding bodies.
There is a media ban. Gelila said
she heard the count is over 200 found.
In the write up above they mention a waste to energy center under
construction. This building is right at
the top of the landslide site. Allan
asked if there might be any chance this mammoth structure might have made the
land unstable. No answer!
We said little. Observed more than we wanted to see. A school bus van pulled in and about 20
children, all in uniform got off the bus and were escorted down a side walkway
past a family group huddled in obvious grief.
Each child carried a bamboo 15 inch candle wicked stick lit as they
somberly walked. We had to be very
careful to stay out of the way of the big dump trucks whose main aim was to
move quickly to destination to dump their load, only to return to the back hoe
for more. Gelila said that this
situation has made people more aware of the plight of the garbage pickers. She said lots of water has been donated for
example. Many have said the squatters
should have been moved from this dangerous location a long time ago. I felt the whole scene was one that humanity
should not experience! Never have I seen
anything so awful.
The good part
of this is there is a small way we can help.
More on this later after we work on documenting our research and plan and
talk to the Rotary Club here. In some
cases, Rotary has place shelter boxes in a disaster area. I don’t know the count on the displaced
people who were really displaced in the first place but they did have shelter
and garbage to sort through. I do know
the government has put the media ban on it.
I do know we are here on the ground and that the scene is awful.
