Quote: Arristotle

"There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing."

Video: Nightime Pursuit

Video...There is a peace to the dump at night. The flies are fewer (sleeping) and the smells are softer especially after the rains of this evening. In this video I am unsuccessfully trying to catch up with 2 people carrying huge bags of bottles on their heads. The muddy ground and darkroom did not help my futile pursuit.

Video: Took A Night Trip To The Dump

Went out at night to the dump...People recognize me at night in the dark, go figure.
A video...

Video: Young Girl Working in The Flies

A video made yesterday of a young girl working with the files. The families are amazing, to be able to work in these conditions daily is something I do not quite understand but it deserves respect and compassion. I think I photographed this young girl as a child dating back to 2013....

Video: Cooking Breakfast...SNAILS

Another video from yesterday...cooking breakfast, SNAILS for breakfast. Mr Win is teaching me how to say SNAIL in Burmese..

Did Another Headlamp And Sock Buy

Yesterday did another headlamp and sock buy.

- 25 headlamps 100 baht each ties 25 = 2500 baht 
- Socks 12x12x12 for 36 pairs = 400 baht (12 adult socks, 24 children's socks)

Total Cost 2900 baht. This will be added to the total money's spent total at the left side of the blog page.

Also handed out 260 baht in cash yesterday to 3 different men yesterday. I try to avoid cash hand outs as much as I can but sometimes people ask for money for food etc

Latest buy, 25 headlamps and 36 pairs of socks

A Few New Pictures

 from Facebook....

Some photos from 2 days ago, "Families of the Dump" 2019...

Wee Loo laughing yesterday morning in the dump.

New members to the Win Family home in the garbage dump.

Pig in his dump pen. Many of the Families who have been in the dump for a longtime have built up small farm type situations, pigs, chickens, even an old motorbike.

The father of the Win family cooking his morning breakfast of rice and snails.

Working the garbage #1.

Working the garbage #2.

I usually start sweating in the dump around 630am, sometimes earlier. This photo was made at about 745am, the sun was rising and the white bags reflecting more harsh light. The whole places heats up very fast, it is brutally hot midday

Today's Food - Medicine Buy

from facebook....

did another donation goods buy tonight...got the families

2 - bags of rice
11 - pairs of socks, for both boys and girls
24 - cans of fish
8 - cans of another type of fish

COST 1341 Baht

In a second buy tonight

2 - antibiotic cream
2 - muscle pain cream - reduces swelling
1 - alcohol
1 - bandage-gauge
1 - medical tape

COST 270 Baht

I bought the food to hand out to the families. Will do another 1 or 2 bags of donation food tomorrow (each bag continues, rice, canned fish, noodles and toiletry items)

The medicine is for 2 people The 2 extra bottles (one antibiotic, 1 pain relief) I will hand out to the next people who ask me to help with medicines.

The 1st container of muscle pain cream is for a man who fell off his bicycle. The antibiotic cream, bandage, alcohol is for helping a young boy from the Win family who has a bad cut, hole in his leg, which is probably infected (see photo). I hope the medicine helps him. I will give it to his mother tomorrow and try to explain as best I can how to use everything.

2 pairs of socks are for the young girl I saw working the garbage with a cloth tied round her foot today (she had no socks). I will hand out the rest of the socks to other people at random. Never thought about buying socks before, but its a good item to donate, light, small, easy for me to carry, as well as needed and useful to those working the garbage. I am 55 years old now, carrying stuff through the garbage is more and more difficult, rice is DAMN HEAVY!! So socks works for me :).

Note* I also gave a man 20 baht today along with all the donations of foods, headlamps, boots etc. I will add the money totals to the running spent donation money link on the left of my blog page.

All the buys from today (tomorrow more headlamps). We (the donators and I) bought the families in the dump, rice, 2 types of fish, socks and medicines.

Antibiotic cream for the young Win boy.

Wound on the young Win boys leg.

The young Win boy who has the infected leg wound. He was walking barefoot through the dump this morning when I made this photo. I have been photographing him and his family in the dump for the last 6 years. He always smiled before, filled with joy, but his life seems to have taken a turn for the worse. His father and mother now live apart. His father was also injured in an accident while working the garbage ( a large digging machine cut into his leg, hurting him.

Gave Out Toys Today

from facebeook....

Today at the dump handed out some donated toys and donated children's cloths (from a coworker where I work security). Children in Canada helping children in the dump, that as beautiful as life can be. When you give a doll to a child and you see her smile, all the work all the effort seems like nothing It is quite beautiful.
Did lots of other donations today as well. Delivered 2 bags of food to the single men,in the swamp area of the dump also handed out 2 sets of boots as well as 8 or so headlamps and 5 or 6 raincoats, plus a ton of lollipops.

Also took a photo of a wound on a young boys leg, from a family I have known and photographed for 6 years. Will show the photo to a local pharmacist and buy some antibiotic cream-healing cream or whatever they recommend, hope that is good enough. Also going to get something to help with the bruise and pain an older man has on his chest, I guess he crashed his bicycle a few days back.
This morning I got many orders for many headlamps, and for a set of boots today. Will try to buy some socks also today. Was photographing a young pretty girl in the dump working today. She found an old cloth in the garbage and then took off her right boot then wrapped her foot in the cloth before placing it back in the boot (no socks). Told her I would bring her a pair of socks and also 1 pair for her boyfriend. I also learned the Burmese word for socks which is "Chees-zoh".
Thanks to all you wonderful people who are helping with this, your donations are making a positive difference on the lives here at the dump.
Now need to get to bed, only had 4 hours sleep last night.
Note* Thought I would share one story before sleeping. The story is about the photo of the young girl with her new doll. I took the doll out of my bag and played with it a bit, making funny noises before handing it to the young girl as a gift (I have her name recorded). She was all smiles, thrilled with her new beautiful doll. The best experience I have in the dump is giving toys to children. I needed to make a photo of the girl with her new doll to show the donation people back in Canada. I will send the photo to the donating mother back home and she will show that photo to her daughter (children donating toys to children). So to get the photo I took the doll away from the little girl in the dump. Her face fell!! She looked so disappointed! I think she thought I was taking away her new pretty doll :). I just turned the doll around so the face was facing towards the camera and gave it back to her for the pic. She was so relieved, smiled again. I will remember this interaction with the little girl, for a long time. First giving her the doll, then taking it away and handing it back to her the right way around for the photo. I will remember her changing facial expressions through out that process. Will probably make a good art talk story. Hope she enjoys her doll and shares it with her friends.

Donated this toy and a bag of children's clothes to this mother and her son.

Gave a doll to this young girl today. From a young girl in Canada to a young girl in the garbage dump.

The wound of the young boy, will buy some medicine for him.

Some photos from day 2 at the dump..

Second Oldest Win Family Boy, With Lollipop,"Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thailand 2019

Man Sleeping In Dump Sheltter, 530am,"Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thailand 2019

Man With Headphones, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thailand 2019

The Father Without His Family, "Families of the Dump", Mae Sot Thailand 2019

Food And Boot Donation Buys

 from Facebook...

Did another donation buy today...13 pairs of boots 2340 baht (180 baht a pair). Food buy, 4 bags of rice, 20 cans of fish, noodles etc cost 793 baht. I also gave a 60 baht money donation to a man in the dump this morning. Total spent today 3193 baht or S135.51 CAD.
Will hand out 2 bags of food today to two men living alone right next to the garbage. I have known both men for many years. One man is the hardest working man in the dump, the Win father. He seems to be separated from his wife and family now. In past years I heard him fighting with his wife many times. This morning when I photographed him he only ate cold rice for breakfast with a small piece of fish that was almost all bones. He offered me his food first, the outside bowl lid was covered with flies, probably 10 or more. Not sure how he can live with such bad food, never mind work hard all day in a garbage dump. I will take him a bag of rice, 5 cans of canned fish, 3 noodles, papaya, soaps, body wash, tooth brush and small energy drink tomorrow early. At least for a few days he will eat better.

13 pairs of donated boots..180 baht a pair.
3 - size 9.5
4 - size 10
3 - size 10.5
3 - size 11

Buys from the last 2 days, noodles and lollipops from yesterday and rice, canned fish, more noodles, oranges and papaya's from today.

Facebook: Exhibition Artifacts

Have a small "Families of the Dump" exhibition at a local Edmonton library scheduled for August 2019. Picked up a couple of ARTIFACTS from the dump this morning to exhibit along side the photographs. I have a teddy bear found abandoned near a dump shack where many children played and also a small pink rubber boot inside the garbage dump. Made photos of their locations before picking them up off the ground.
At the library exhibition I will place the teddybear in a glass jar I bought a while back (second hand). The exhibition viewers can see the large "Families of the Dump" photos (around 10-12) then view these two dump artifacts with their location photos. It would also be cool if the visitors could open the glass jar lid and 'smell the dump' off the cute little teddy bear. It would give the whole experience that much more reality! If visitors could smell the dump alongside the photographs, that would be great. Doubt that it will happen thou.

Red boot in garbage dump for exhibition artifact #1.

Teddy Bear in garbage dump for exhibition artifact #2.

Video: Nice Man

This young Burmese man speaks Burmese, some Thai and a bit of English. Gave him a raincoat, he works at the local school.

Video: Children Playing 1

Children playing under their home in the garbage dump, "Families of the Dump", 2019.

Video: Intro Vid, "Families of the Dump" 2019

Another intro video with name and age, from an old friend who knows me from last trip, or maybe the 5 years before that. Great and friendly people here with good hearts, got to do more to help them.

Headlamp And Raincoat Buys

Bought some headlamps and rain jackets for the families. Got 25 better quality headlamps for 2500 baht 100 each and better quality plastic rain jackets, 36 (3 boxes, 12 per box) for1600 baht around 44 baht each. Total donated money spent so far is 4650 baht (550 baht for mama noodles and lollipops).. Will start handing the stuff out soon.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WHO DONATED TO HELP  THOSE IN NEED. YOU FOLKS ARE THE HEROES.

Raincoat

Box of 12 raincoats, bought 3 boxes

Headlamp

Bag of 25 headlamps

2 Digi Photos From Today

Here are a couple of photos made today with the digi cameras. The young boy pictured invited me to his birthday party a few years back (grabbed my hand and too me to the party). Today he seemed so much sadder and unsure. He was apprehensive and a bit frightened. 2 years can be a long time for someone so young, especially living as he does.

Duh Joh

Keep seeing old toys in the filth. The flies were really bad, saw thousands in places, walked through them which made them all rise and buzz you from every direction.

How can people live and work in this?

So hot in the garbage today, sweated buckets even at 730am. Got to wear my silly hat to protect myself. Many new people here, lots of hello's from old friends.

Back In The Garbage

I went back to the garbage dump in Mae Sot today to spend time with the families. Got out on the street at about 615am stayed only a few hours at the dump as the light and heat got quite a bit worse, fast. After 8am things got very harsh.

 Some opening return to the dump thoughts:

- There seem to be less people living on the garbage and close to the dump. I could be wrong on this as I misjudged that last trip.
- Lots of smiles and hello's from the folks that know me, happened 6 or 7 times, in the small group of workers I saw.
- Got out a yell out of "Gerry" from a boy off in the distance at one point, and waves and wais from many folks.
- Many new people working the garbage, lots and lots of new people. Some were apprehensive about me, some of the older folks were telling them stories about me I think. Heard DAH BONG YAI several times which is Burmese for 'taking photos'.
- A Thai official (dump official?) told me not take photos of the working. He sort of yelled t out to me from a distance in an angry way.  I saw him earl coming at me and tried to avoid him. This is sort of normal, happened probably 5 times last trip maybe more. I will try to avoid the official types. This trip I will probably be spending more time in the home areas of the families and less on the garbage where the working is done. There is no issue photographing people at home. Many family members now know me here, the trust me. It is quite easy to get photo access with my friends. Most everyone on the Burmese side is friendly, the Westerners and Thai officials can be a problem thou. Westerners in this area do not like you en crouching on their turf, they often see you as a threat and Thai officials like to hide the reality of the dump and the lives of the families from the world (makes Thailand look bad).
- Bought and handed out a few mama noodles and candies, but not much. No one came up and asked me for anything That will probably happen tonight when i return tonight and when word has spread that I am back.
- Will go buy headlamps tonight for the first time this afteroon, probably will pick up 20 or so to start. Will take some with me when I return to the garbage tonight. I am expecting rain, have a nice rain jacket to wear. Will probably be buying a bunch for the families in the next while.
- The people looked more tired and more warn down today,  the dump seemed smaller. The Win family father looked a bit weaker, older. Am a bit worried for him. He gave me a huge smile and hello (MING GAH LAU BAU) on seeing me.
- Rented a motorbike and got a nice hotel room. A place I can chill and recoup after being outside in the heat and filth. I am finding these trips more and more physically and mentally difficult as I age.
- Forgot the batteries for my Canon 5D today so only shot film, in the Rollie and in the Lieca 35s.
- TONS OF FLIES (thousands crawling over everything) in the garbage, even learned the Burmese word for Fly (JING GOH)

Much more to come.

Back In Mae Sot

Am back in Mae Sot, this time at quite a nice hotel. The cost of the place is 704 baht, or about $30 a night CAD.

I bought the first of the donations, Mama noodles (30) and  Lollipops (79) for the dump children, cost was 560 baht. Will make up  link to the donation money spent on the left side of this page so all the donators can track things if they want.

Note* All transport, hotels and meals etc for myself I pay out of my own pocket 0% of the donation money goes to me, 100% is used to buy goods for the families. I will be buying rubber boots, medicines, rice, and headlamps in the coming days.

Lollipops and Mama Noodles for the children at the dump

Will go to the garbage dump early tomorrow morning to say hi to everyone again and to see what has changed.

$30 a night includes a bath tub, sofa TV, eating, work table area WIFI and a small kitchen with doo-yen (refridgerator)

Asiaphotoreview.com Story-Interview-Photos Coming Soon

The "Asia Photo Review' profile, photos and interview should be online in about 1 weeks time. Got a nice note from the sites editor today.

I will post the link to the story-interview-photos  when they are posted. Hope the interview is a beautiful read for all of you out there in "internet land"as well.

Thanks Gerry

Note* They are featuring the "Families of the Dump" story, the 2018 color work.

------------------

Hi Gerry,

Thanks so much for the answers, they're a beautiful read. I'll work through proofreading a bit more, but I should have the interview posted by next week the latest.

Thanks so much for the work that you do for these people and the light you shine on an underserved community. Hopefully I can help drive more attention to your work and help with the donations. 

.........

-------------------

Facebook; 21 New "The People Who Live Under The Freeway" Photographs From Last Seek

Am on my way to Mae Sot and the dump now, should arrive sometime tomorrow. Am looking forward to being with the families again, not looking forward to the smell, flies, rats, cockroaches and never ending heat. The "Families of the Dump" photo and donation work will be starting again soon. 

Here are some more shots done in Bangkok over the last week for "The People Who Live Under The Freeway" am missing my friends there now. Not sure when I can return to do more photos in that world, the security guard job in Canada is calling.

Anapon 53, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Anapon in his slum shelter under the freeway with a bit of a black eye, not sure where he got it.

Anapon 53, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Anapon a sweet man who I have been photographing for the last 5 or 6 years in his freeway shack. When I come to visit him watch day, this is the expression I usually see followed by a sweet, kind smile.

Anapon 53 "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Anapon in a pensive mood. Like the wooden bars to the left in this composition, sort of symbolic.

Truck Door, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Here is the door to Khun Bia'a old truck, decorated with pictures of the King and royal family plus a teddybear.

Dom 58, Chompoo 63 and Vee 40, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Dom smiling.

Domm 58,,"The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Dom in a more serious frame of mind, he goes through rapid mood changes at times.

Dom 58, Chompoo 63 and Vee 40, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Everyone is scrounging through the garbage when Dom acts up for me and the camera. He likes to put on a show now and again but is a very friendly guy.

Dom 58, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Dom laughing again under the freeway.

Dom 58, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Dom under the freeway.

Man Selling Wooden Boats, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

A street seller makes his way home after a long day of selling his small wooden boats. Very nicely crafted items.

Vee 40, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Vee, only met Bee 2 times but he was kind to me both days. We talked a fair amount about several things. He told me where I could get a nice apartment in the area.

Ooh 40+, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Ooh gathering some tings on the rail way tracks near her home.

"The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

A rather harsh looking interpretation of the area many people live under the freeway.

Puppy, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Pass this cute looking pooch each day when I walk to the main part of the under freeway story.

Lavah, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Lavah who I only met once looking down under the freeway. He staggered by that day with no shoes or shirt and with an incredibly detailed tattoo on his back.

Ooh 40+,0, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Ooh by her fire under the freeway. She made some rice after working all day gathering bottles-cans (3/4 bag).

Ooh With Her Beloved Dog, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Ooh takes her beloved dog out for a walk every morning, other than that he sits in the door way of her slum shack room. This room is an upgrade on the room I photographed her in for the last 6 years which is farther down the tracks.

Ooh 40+, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

We both got covered in smoke when Ooh started her fire. I realized she did a dress change at one point from a solid color to a nicer striped item. Guess she wanted to look more pretty for the photos.

Lavah, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Lavah laughing at something I said. Want to get to know him better when I return to Bangkok.

Oye, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

Khun Oye just came straight up to me and started talking, thought a strait away portrait of her worked best.

People Who Live Under The Freewayscape, "The People Who Live Under The Freeway", Klong Toey Slum, Bangkok Thailand 2019

The sign reads RAUH-WUNG ROT-FAI which translates to "BEWARE (BE CAREFUL) TRAIN" which is kind of at odds with the cute little kid toy train picture below the large double warning with flashing lights.