before, sanitation is a major problem in Guatemala. Today we were given the opportunity to really examine the issue first-hand. All of Xela's garbage is taken to this basurero. It's located about 15 minutes outside of the city near the base of Santa Maria (the volcano I climbed last week). The sheer amount of garbage is absolutely indescribable, but what's worse is that hundreds of people spend their days in the dump, digging through the trash for food, drinks, and recyclable materials that they can turn in for a miniscule amount of money. 15% of Guatemala's population (about 2 million people) is classified as being in 'extreme poverty'. I think today was our first true glimpse of this extreme. The basurero is both a human and environmental tragedy. In order to search through the bags of garbage more efficiently the people light them on fire; This melts away the 
plastic, making it easier to identify glass and aluminum. Because of this, the entire place is literally steaming with toxic fumes. Breathing is nearly impossible without a scarf or sleeve to cover your face. Health studies have stated that being in this particular basurero for one hour is the equivilant of smoking 40 cigars...this leads to obvious health problems for the people who spend the majority of their days digging through the trash here. I have one particular imaged burned into my memory: there were these two girls, probably each around ten years old, chatting with each other while up to their thighs in waste, opening one garbage bag after another, carefully pulling out any plastic bottles and putting them into an oversized Purina dogfood bag. Watching people, especially these beautiful little girls with all the potenital in the world, digging through garbage is one of the most dehumanizing things I have ever witnessed. We brou
ght 50 lbs of rice and beans with us and handed them out to the people as they scavenged, but it seemed like an awefully small consolation. I don't think tthat he majority of the people in the United States, myself included, realize the level of poverty that exists in Central America, so close to home. It's absolutely devestating, but recieves next to no attention. Prior to this trip my entire human rights focus honed in on Africa. While there are obviously immense problems in the continent, I am able to recognize now that the poverty in Central America is on par with that in Africa. Today was a reality check for us all.***Keep in mind that these photos are not even close to showing the worst of it. I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of the people, so these images depict the outskirts of the basurero***
What was once a horse...
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