Guatemala

Background/ Introduction
Out of the Dump: Fotokids originated as the Out of the Dump photography project for children who lived with their families on the rubbish tips in Guatemala City. The initiative provided children with a new and powerful voice to document and interpret their own lives. The children spent much of their time digging through the refuse for recyclable material to sell, or guarding sacks of rubbish while their parents worked.

Out of the Dump started when Nancy McGirr first visited the rubbish dump in Guatemala City . While taking pictures of the dump, Nancy was surprised by the number of children who were interested in her cameras. She decided to let them take the pictures, and so the ‘Out of the Dump’ project began.

Not a load of rubbish: Life on the dump is hard and dangerous. People are very poor and most children have to work every day. They sort the rubbish for cardboard, cans and other things to sell.
“ It’s difficult to grow up in Guatemala,” says Rosario, one of the young photographers. “Parents don’t have enough money to buy shoes and clothes for school. Sometimes children never go to school. Many people didn’t learn to read and write when they were young and now it’s hard for them”.

School for snappers: To become a member of ‘Out of the Dump’, children had to promise to go to school, and not to sniff glue, a real problem for many of the children who live there.
When they had done this, Nancy gave them a camera and began to teach them how to use it.
“ Taking photos is easy for children, because you don’t have to read or write to say what you want to. It’s something you can speak with,” says Nancy. “It lets you tell people what your life is like.”

Earning a living: The children earned money from selling their photos, which helps their families and pays for them to go to school. This way they did’t have to work on the dump.

The project began with a group of six children between the ages of five and twelve, who lived and worked in Guatemala City's vast garbage dump, the project grew over the next few years to include children from other economically poor areas of the capital.

Since 1996, Fotokids has expanded to include communities outside Guatemala City. The "Children in Conflict" program aims to document the effects of 36 years of war on three Guatemalan communities, Santiago Atitlán, Santa María Tzejá and Guatemala City, creating strong links between urban and rural students. Currently Fotokids involves over 80 young people, ages 7 to 19, in six distinct communities, including Antigua, Guatemala and La Ceiba, Honduras

Quotes:

“I just want to earn a living this year and hope nothing bad happens to me. God bless my parents, brothers and sisters. All I wish is nothing bad happens to my family!” Marta.

“Using photography inspires the children: exposing them to dreams and the idea that there are options in life - contradicting the prevailing philosophy that one lives, works and ultimately gets tossed in the dump when you die.”
Nancy McGirr