Thursday, August 30, 2018

History And Artist Statement...FAMILIES OF THE DUMP... PAG Exhibition


A BRIEF HISTORY “Families of the Dump”

My social documentary photography project “Families of the Dump” dates back to 2013. In 2013 after viewing a CNN story on YouTube I learnt of Burmese refugee families who were living in a garbage dump in Mae Sot Thailand. I had been searching for an important very human story to tell. The families in the dump became for me that very important, life-changing story.

In the vicinity of the Mae Sot dump approximately 100 families who have escaped Burma (Myanmar) live and work. The people are mostly from the Mon and Karen ethic groups but there are also other groups in the population. They have escaped Burma for economic and or political reasons. Many families working the garbage in Mae Sot have experienced war and extensive human rights abuses. Life in the garbage is a better choice for them, a better option than where they came from. They can work everyday, make money and build better lives in Thailand at the dump than they could back home in Burma.

At the Mae Sot dump all types recyclable goods are of value, plastics, bottles, cardboard, metals etc. Everything is dug out of the waste and then resold to local buyers based on weight and quality. Everyday the people, sometimes-entire families including children and the elderly come out into the garbage to scavenge. Food is often taken out of the waste, raw meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, foods of all types, everything of value is used.


The families either live in shacks directly on the garbage, or next to it. Many of the photographs in this presentation were made in the homes the people live in, sometimes up to 9 human beings in a single dump shack.

My first trip to Mae Sot and the dump of the families was in April/May 2013. I took a second trip in 2013, another in 2015, 2016 and a 6-month trip in 2017-2018. Over that time period I have visited the dump over 100 times. The work has been both photographic and donation in nature (please see end section for the donation work).


ARTIST STATEMENT
“The Families of the Dump”

Saturday, January 10, 2015
Children Of The Dump
Flies buzzing in the sunshine
      Garbage and long toil
Giggles with quick laughter
     Playing with barking dogs
Broken glass and sweet hugs
    Found food but lost school
Stomach worms and stinking waste
    Rats running with the rice
Yet new hope and new life
    Children of the dump


No one wants to live in garbage but fifty Burmese families call the Mae Sot Thailand municipal garbage dump home. They are refugees, both economic and political who have escaped the chaos and violence of Burma for the semi sanctuary of Thailand and the dump. The garbage provides a way for the people to earn a living; they can scavenge for recyclables in the waste and make a daily income. The dump gives them a way to protect and care for their families, it gives them hope and the possibility of a better future.

These photographs tell the stories of the families who work the Mae Sot garbage dump. I made the images with the hope of raising money and awareness. The money is then given back to the families in the form of goods, headlamps, food, rubber boots, hats, clothing, medicines, toys etc. Over the 5 years of the project I have made many friends, and learned from a distant culture and way of life that is so different than anything I have known in Canada. I have celebrated with the family members, spent time in their homes, ate with them, joked with them as well as cried. We have worked together making these photographs. Thank you for taking the time to view our pictures, and allowing us to tell you about the lives of the “Families of the Dump.”