La Chureca

La Chureca is the largest landfill in Managua. It is home to more than 1,500 people, some of whom have been living there since the late 1960's. For the residents, unemployment is about 100%, drug use is extremely high (glue huffing being the most popular) and prostitution starts with children as young as 9 years old. People work gathering recyclables from the garbage dumped in the landfill for 12+ hours per day, on a good day, earning the equivalent of $1 or $2 US dollars.

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Click on the photos to see larger versions

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There are three primary schools in the landfill, but no secondary schools (high schools). If a child is fortunate enough to make it through middle school, they have to attend high school outside of the landfill, sometimes traveling more than an hour by bus. Once outside of the landfill, they are met with a lot of discrimination because of where they live. We are currently involved in two projects in La Chureca.

  • "3 Minutos con La Chureca" This is a program where children make 3 minute public service announcements that are aired on the radio. Currently, there are about 14 children in the program. They have their own desktop computer for recording and editing the programs. They have made programs about AIDS, discrimination, the rights of the child, and alternatives to drug use. These are their programs, their topics, their stories. We find it quite amazing what children know and what these children have to say.

        A sample of "3 Minutos con La Chureca"

          Program about Discrimination: mp3 orwav
          Program about AIDS: mp3 or wav
          Program about El Tismal: mp3 or wav
          Program about Alternatives to Drugs: mp3 or wav
          Program about Rights of Children: mp3 or wav

  • PIEAT in La Chureca The second program we are working on is trying to start a PIEAT type program with the women in La Chureca. They are interested in community development and finding an alternative form of work to collecting recyclables. They would like to start a small business of their own.