Meubeuss

For my Environment and Development class, we went to visit this landfill called Meubuess, where all of the trash in Dakar is sent. I didn't get that many pictures because it's not really acceptable to take pictures there, and we were only able to go there because our professor knows someone that lives there and agreed to show us around. 

I knew we were going to be visiting a landfill with my class and that there would obviously be garbage, but actually being there and seeing it for myself really put  some things into perspective.

Coming off the bus, the first thing you notice is the smell. Talk about instant gag reflex. There is nothing you can do to escape the smell of every kind of garbage you can imagine. You can even taste it… miles upon miles of trash, dead rodents and other animals, urine and endless amounts of waste. The fact that people are actually living there and breathe that air every day blows my mind. I’ve encountered lots of poverty here in Senegal but haven’t seen anything like this before. I found myself wondering if the people living there just accepted this way of life as normal, because maybe they don’t know any different. They’re maybe used to it by now and just accept a life living in a landfill as reality.

Another thing that shocked me was when the man showing us around told us that the life expectancy was around 36. People are just born into this situation, especially the kids, and grow up in this environment where they are unaware and not educated about the health risks that it imposes on them. Most of these people are all prone to skin irritation, disease, mental problems, and probably many respiratory problems as a result of living in such a dirty environment. I imagine that they don’t have access to health care either, or don’t have the means to know when they are experiencing dangerous health symptoms. It is scary to think about how much disease you can be exposed to living somewhere like this. With the rainwater soaking up in all the garbage and a poor drainage system, it is a trap for malaria and other insect born illnesses. Also the rodents and livestock roaming around eating the waste and spreading the bacteria is also a trap for disease. They also use the polluted water to water the vegetables in the garden. And they go through the bacteria filled garbage all day, and don't wash their hands before eating. I imagine that it is a never ending cycle of dirty water that breeds in the trash and then gets used to water the vegetables, then drunk, etc.

The fact that people actually live in this garbage was shocking, but the fact that they make a living by pack ratting was another crazy thing for me to grasp. Over a staircase made out of garbage, we watched a truck come and dump some new trash, as dozens of kids and adults ran towards the new garbage as if Santa had come to deliver new exciting presents. Pushing each other aside, each person wanted to get their first pick and find the “good stuff.” I felt like I was watching rats go through a dumpster, but these were people. People just like me, who made their living this way, selling recycled garbage that they either restore, make into something, or sell as it is. We talked to a man who lived there, and he would collect old shoes and sell them and told us that he was passing the business down to his son.

People in Dakar don’t even produce very much garbage at all, which makes me wonder what landfills look like in the USA that they don’t want us to see...