Friday, September 8, 2017

Toys For The Dump Children!

Got a box of second hand toys (one little girl giving to another) donated to me by a co worker. I sent out a general call for things at the plant where I work security and today got a box of toys left for me in the guardhouse. I made a selection of some of the smaller toys. I will try to take as many of these as I can to Thai. Last time when I gave out the little dolls and such from my camera bag the dump children loved them so much. They would comb the dolls heads with toothbrushes and then tie them down with an elastic band.  It was a very rewarding thing for me and gave them a bit of happiness. I decided to repeat the toy hand out this trip as well.

A selection of toys small toys given to me by my coworker Henrietta
Here is the Facebook post I made on this same subject:
https://www.facebook.com/gerry.yaum

Today I got a box of second hand toys donated to me by a coworker at the plant where I work security. In 2016 when I was in the dump working on the "Families of the Dump" photo series, I handed out little donated toys to the children. The toys were a BIG HIT! Probably the greatest joy I have personally experienced through my photography has been seeing the smiles on the children’s faces after I gave them a little Barbie doll or action figure from my camera bag. Sometime life is so beautiful, especially when people share what they have. The attached photo is the batch of toys donated to me today. I will hand them out to the children in the dump next trip. The second group photo is some of the children in the dump back in November 2015. We were making free digi photos to hand out as gifts, they loved to watch themselves in the cameras LCD. The 3rd pic is one of the donated dolls from last trip. LOOK AT THAT SMILE!! This little girl showed her mom the doll very proudly. The 4th photo is one of the donated hats, the fifth some steel toed safety boots also donated from the plant where I work. The boots were a bit big but much safer. A few years back I stepped on a nail in the dump, it went through my boot and grazed the side of my left foot.Safety boots are heavy but much better to wear. The last shot is an overview of the dump and some of the shacks, shot from on top of the Mae Sot garbage dump.Note* The reason the children have shaved heads is because of the lice problem in the dump.