| Show 4A The Salt Lake Tribune September II 1388 Sunday I Dumps in Mexico Support Thousands of Scavengers sprawling on mesa tops and canyons not far from the Pacific Bv Patrick McDonnell United Press International TIJUXNA Mexico — As the columns of trucks arrive overflowing with the detritus of mod the cm civilization Gulls scavenge alongside tbe people Errant plastic bags and other scattered litter from the dump cling to surrounding ashen hillsides and flutter in the wind like the refuse of a ettlement On a bluff above the site city officials have opened a cemetery where users pay about $8 to bury their dead Some graves are dug in the landfill Shocking as the squalid dump tableau may seem to the American eye it is a commonplace scene ' “pepena-dores- or garbage scavengers swarm around them with a professional fervor awaiting the spoils The daily spectacle at the city dump here abruptly challenges illusions about this city's prosperity this is the Third World all right less than 10 miles from California Some pickers including families and children scavenge the trash for metal and bottles for resale Others eye cardboard paper products or wood Everyone hopes for a lucky find a gold ring a silver bracelet or more improbable a wad of $100 bills But many seek a more basic commodity food Of course we'll cat the good stuff " explained Manuela Esquivel 61 knee-deein a rotting Technicolor swamp of fruit and vegetables seemingly oblivious to n throughout the Third World From Cairo to Lima impoverished people make their living by scavenging from dumps often jealously guarding their bounties and residing in makeshift hovels alongside and within the heaps of trah — which are propitious sites for the spread of dysentery and a range of other ailments Generations have worked some dumps many adult pickers in Mexico and elsewhere began their occupations as children 4 1 I 4 t t 4 f comes are supplemented by usable salvaged items from building material to clothing to food "I would say that the economic position of the pickers is somewhat better than the typical workers" said Victor Clark Alfaro a Tijuana anthropologist who has had some contacts with the dump community In fact some Mexican scavengers have tasted the fruits of relative prosperity In Mexico City “King of Trash Rafael Gutierrez Moreno who controlled a 10 union of pickers at sundry dumps left an estate estimated at $1 6 million when he was shot to death last year apparently the victim of a crime of passion In Ciudad Juarez on the U S Mexico border across from El Paso dump workers and residents revolted a decade ago against the businessmen who had long had exclusive rights to scavenged material The Juarez pickers eventually gained control of the dump purchased a fleet of trucks and ess tablished a system enabling to buy houses insurance I f 4 i 9 ’ I 000-perso- n 4 p the pungent and ubiquitous odor "This is my chicken caldo soup) for tonight ' Esquivel added accompanied by the raucous laughs of nearby women as she hoisted a plastic bag full of bloodied parts "What we don t eat we give to the pigs Better to eat this than die hungry"' So it goes each day at Tijuana s largest municipal dump only a few miles from the tourist drags of downtown Some 200 families among Tijuana s poorest depend on the dump which is widely referred to here as ' el dompe" an adaptation of the English for their liveli hoods Pickers sell the material to middlemen purchasers who resell it for recycling It is an economy unto itself The Tijuana dump sprawls over 22 acres of privately owned largely unoccupied land But the Tijuana rubbish heap s proximity to the border in a cit acknowledged as one of Mexico s most affluent imparts a jarring note to the spectacle Indeed scavengers here say that Tijuana s very prosperity and its location on the border add to the dump s lure Residents are more inclined to discard usable and resalable items many of them made in the United States ' There are many more possibil ities here " said Francisco Hernandez 18 a recent arrival from Mexico Ciy where he said he worked scavenging several large dumps There are more valuable things to be found here People are more civilized Despite their impoverished and desperate appearance most of the grimy trash pickers of Tijuana eke out a living on the economic margins The pickers limited in ’ —lo Angtmi times pxxo$ and other amenities In Tijuana however where pickers have little choice but to sell their products to buyers who enjoy monopolies There is a flip side to the claim that the scavengers are slightly better off than other workers The pickers are also subject to exploitation to those who control the dump and tr any illnesses ' Clark they may contract there The general stigma ' of toiling amid the trash seems relatively unimportant to many pickers Many speak approvingly of life in the dump noting proudly that they set their own hours and answer to no boss sounding at times like small business conventioneers But some pickers interviewed here comp'ained about the stink and grime they must take home with them almost always to crowded houses without running water or electricity This work bothers me a lot said Jose Angel Galeana 37 who v alks an hour to get to the dump bv about 7am each day "You re dirty all the time You work in trash You stink after work But what else ran I do'’’ 1 y — LKvtfvo P’pss Intemaonot in Calcutta ‘i have to says one puller with tuberculosis underprivileged Beast of Burden? Rickshaw Pullers In Calcutta Have No Alternative t liffnrd J I I Tht re art people who would nev- ' r tl u k nf riding in a rickshaw said ‘ ‘us’ But in r B Muckerjee sue i r t is there are no other alter t mttd Press Inlt rnutumo’ Indii — a V t't 1( I IT I i K Situ Mined la- - to on pulling peoplt in riTMg( - ’brouh t ht streets offhisiungtstulritv for uf burden I1' majoritv of rickshaw punt an immigrants forced to fie i”ipi in hid regions to the north rn! usi of the ci'v in search of urs 21 47 his h gs anlu constant1' H oft n dreams P nut surrt nd ring t vhaustiop and simple ng down in t h rn td ’ 't i d Vim d c u ii r v a p K haws IP kruiws ' tao a few rupets t Inti t '( pinch th sir' its dr tggui " t n ’ 1 ' rl i k it " i ig i ' d ‘ lr M 1 u j 'h hn ! a- - 'n ( liart in Ins J I i rt f 1' v d it ' t t 'si- - !l M K o' 4 C I' ' l n 1 1 ' rn n barn st 30 became one of million peoplt lOvears ' ' a drought in his home bar He returns to his vil vt ar to see his wife and 'mi and sends them ni"ney h i s ' n rons’ant bdMie with lnfisraH his vchmlt a' t rt t s d month for v tola' run gt s a ( i t t i o - s i i i i' s' r '' uttd a tradi id the ft w plants r ii tr inspt ( rt in Mis It - I 's It' ri ipnM h‘ r ’ d mar r its work Km i tn i(l a’’ tla onl - lu n s' r i t hind I" riaj u-- ‘ u U iirfi! l d s U ht-(- J It w i a f V I 'iiil '!r i ' ' ' ir ' i ' ' to1 'l ! ' - ' ml i' ' Pit i ti w By Roman Rollnick United Press International AFT KHANEN Iraq — In the scorching heat beyond the last towns and relative safety of big militarv bases life is becoming a tense but dull routine for unarmed U N solbordiers patrolling the Iran-Iraq der Traveling from dawn to dusk between the tattered white flags of two exhausted armies that still face each other the men in white patrol trucks try not to think w hat would happen if the shooting suddenly started again I d get the hell out of there ' said GarvYazi’huk 27 a Canadian army captain on his first foreign assign ment He patrols the border near Naft khanen in Iraq s central war zone with Maj Mohammed Manul 32 from Dakha Bangladesh ' ‘Apocalypse tattooed on his right arm Yazirhuk said he is here to show the U N flag and try to keep the peace Naft Khanen best known for its ml fields is near the Iranian border about 100 miles northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad Its where the last major battles were fought before the Aug 8 reav fire an nouncement bv U nited Nations Sec retarv General Javier Perez de fuel lar Todav it is a world of militarv bases deserted trenches and gun emplacements and convovs of Soviet tanks Otniouslv I was a bit anxious be fore coming out here because ! did not know what we were in for said ' But now we re bere and V azichuk both sides seem verv eager to respect the cease-firThings ha-- e be n fine e far so p-- all 173 U N nt ervt r tot k uf positions on cath side of the 73(i mile border Aug 20 when tht i a- -i fre formallv took hold a ft- - i icid trs of tme of bito rt war- - ( In IM 'tli rt" r t' f t f ’ ' i I ' x h - r i M iigU'1 ' r in i t when the cease fire was announced some Iranians came out of their for tificat'ons and trenches w ith flowers and the Iraqis with water tn offer he said In the Middle fast Power and water svmbohe peace But m Iran and Iraq now debating in Geneva on making permanent peace the mis trust reflected b leaders and offi rial media mean the U N men mav t not hav e an eav time In the 40 plus vears since the first I’ N' observers were posted m Greece in 1446 thousands of sol riierv from more than 60 nations have risKt d and somt times lost their lives in arias ranging from the for tner Belgian ongn inow Zaire' Cy- prus kashmir and the Sinai to the Caribbean and Papua New Guinea This timt the I m’ed Nations Iran Iraq Militarv Obstrvers lroup or U NIIMOG under Maj (itn Slavko Jovic of Jugoslavia will watch for cease fire violations see that neither side advances from the positions it held Aug 20 superv ise the evacua tmn of salients and then ensure the frontier remains inviolate ( anadians make up bv far the big gest contingent of U NIIMOG It also mrludes mn from Ireland Poland Senegal Austria Bangladesh indo nesia Ma'avsia Hungary Norwav and Sweden Through our radio network New J ork headquarters will know of an ' v lola'inn we report w Phin tht hour aidt?pt Johan Person of swd-- n Observers said both sides had good dtfensive positions During the hot summer weeks the weather if noth ing else will discourage any major i ! ) j j ' C i ! ' J 7 -- ' i -- 1 t n i he r t t i t ar in - ' i I N o-- v d trp hesjid ppoplortco cur bint here’s and wt irerne u inulv our nn''rms ‘rtit'td r yt i'1" o' e ' ' ' rs II rt l ' i s U TSt o Mi- - o on I u 110 rt r v t' ‘ r i i inditi'mi -i fr for h i'1 bf‘ I tnd ! ori ’ t tic - it r ' ! d r ' ht r null j I hI t ' ' v r : ' T v i ’ n e Faehdad s palm lined streets soldiers say people greet them " o’ smile at them evervwhere c p Tim Slanv 24 of Stephan ( die Newfoundland said he will bt t t'as-in Basra Iraq s bombed ou’ gatewav to the disputed Shat ai ral waterw av j I cpn’e hkp t't wav w f re hei i ' i In I I ' hut ar month averagt noon t mp a ir' s in Naf' khant n v tr tt m ice iiu t a' nt i ' 122 d j’' h rtu’- - t In y nu r f‘ s A ( i r M e tnfensupj The two man team and an Ira p aisnn officer said thev rover about 100 mies each da lthough mo mine fields are marked — It an n hordes of vouths fanaMralh evd for suicide against them — thev an careful to stick to tht track as far ori- lis tn ts in m t i in- - fc-i- 22-acr- UN Troops at Border Of Iran Iraq Risk Death to Keep Peace Racist Views By David Butts United Press International TOKYO — Every Saturday eve nmg a Japanese comedian in blackface and curly hair appears on telev to sing dance and joke with rouHis minstrel-styl- e passers-btine might be seen as racist in the West but to the Japanese it s just good fun "We don't have any feeling of racial discrimination in our program ' said Masahiko Monoka the Nippon Television show's producer Nevertheless he cut short a news interview because of what he called Japans current ‘ hysteria" over racism His concern was understandable fter an American newspaper described a line of products aimed at children depicting the storybook character Little Black Sambo the company recalled the profitable dolls American blacks were further in censed by a racist remark from a senior Japanese politician Black leaders have threatened to boycott Japanese goods Prime Minister No boru Takeshita sent a letter of apology but blacks say that is not enough All this has led to a public of racism in Japan The question being asked is Are the Japanese racists" In a series of interviews several ilder Japanese admitted thev were The vounger generation said thev did not discriminate between blacks and whites but share the common Japanese prejudice agains all for eigners We know blacks are at the bott im of the social in th’ United S'ates' said Kozaburo Wakirriura 73 head of a small town Rutarv ( i iS inTanabe wtstern Japan Perhaps deep down wt think we are sup nor to blacks but we realh ha no chance to meet blacks U e reall don t pa that mu I a -t said nch Unt'on to blacks Mrake 44 a manager at a Tth-Tbv art re’ packaging rnmpanv that important to us Thev art no’ i ur major custn-n- i rs ( '1 r Jaj an se t xpr s d co ran ft e'log tow ard w biti-I h i an in' ri t mi it tii'i - - m! asm ’a rt f in a v w h‘ Id b- - miuv t t c in ratiof i w ho liw d tnr in 'b ' ii in s di ft at m j poorest families — who have built their makeshift shelters near the site The Tijuana dump has attracted a popula- tion of squatters — some 200 of the city’s Anti-Blac- k eat" f for resale — all of them hope for a lucky find but most are lucky to stay alive Even children work alongside parents scavenging cans and other metals or items Japan Examines Decried as inhuman b critics rickshaw pulling is economic necessity for 30000 9 i J trash-picker- "Of course ice'll eat the good stuff” exin plained Manuela Esquivel 61 knee-deea rotting Technicolor swamp of fruit and vegetables seemingly oblivious to the pungent and ubiquitous odor "This is my chicken caldo fsoupj for tonight” i s -- ’ p t h t i v t i ’ r1 ' ' M i i I q rI r nu j hi r ’ ’ |
