Once in a while, we’re struck by a realization that we take so many things for granted. We’re blessed to have a roof on our head and meals thrice a day. But not everybody is as fortunate as we are. The story which you’re going to read will break your heart, not once but multiple times. Read at your own risk.
About 12 miles from Jakarta on the island of Java in Indonesia, there’s place called Bantar Gebang. What’s special about this place? Well, this place is the largest open landfill site in South-East Asia. But can you imagine that as many as 3,000 families can spend their lives inside these stinky garbage dumps? This frightful place is actually a home to these families.
A 36-year-old photographer Alexandre Sattler from France documented the lives of these less-fortunate people spending their lives in the shabbiest place on Earth.
These photographs might make you feel sick...
The gigantic garbage dump he photographed receives 9,000 tonnes of rubbish everyday.
The photographer was keen on studying the garbage disposal problem in Indonesia in detail. But what he found instead is even ghastlier than most of us can imagine. He found that many families use the garbage as their way of living and forage the trash they can use or re-sell.
He told Daily Mail, “When I arrived in Bantar Gebang I saw many families living there. The most shocking thing is that what some consider a waste, becomes a resource for others. The scale of inequality is striking and shocking. Fruit and vegetables thrown away by some, become a source of food for others.”
“The living conditions are terrible: smells, bacteria, insalubrity… families and their children live there in shelters without access to medical care and drinking water.”
Children play barefoot in the garbage dump. Injuries are so common as the ground is full with sharp objects. The happy faces of the children establish the fact that, joy exists everywhere, even amidst the filth.
Unfortunate enough to hear that, some of these children were born here in the filth, where numerous of life-threatening disease may be lurking. These pictures compel us to think about our lifestyle, the waste we generate. How irresponsibly we enjoy being on the brighter side of the spectrum. And countless of such families bear the consequences of our injudicious waste production.
