Aterro (2011) - full transcript

Belo horizonte is a planned cityand one of the biggest cities in Brazil.

Since its foundation, in 1897,

it has always followed the internationaltrends in waste management.

It burned its wasteduring the first three decades,

adopting a composting system afterwards.

During the sixties,the city's amounts of waste

surpassed the functional capacityof the fermentation chambers

and began being disposed of outdoors,at the city's former stone quarry,

just a few kilometers away from downtown.

In little time the "morro das pedras"(Hill of the stones)

Was occupied by people who sawin solid waste a way of making a living.

Well, that's a fair question...

I wasn't born here,I was born in the country,

near serro, in morro do Pilar.

And lived there until I was 15.

Before I was 16

I had already come to bh (Belo horizonte),brought by some people I worked for...

Imagine this was many years ago,it was in 1951.

April of '51.

I remember the dayi got into the bus to come here,

I remember the day I got to lagoinha,there at the iapi.

I rememberthe words of the bus driver joking:

"Put a salt stone in your mouth,whoever comes here never goes back."

"I've already brought many other women here,they said they'll go back and nothing."

"If you like it in here,you never go back to work in the country."

I even thought: "He's kidding..."

Kidding?See how long I've been here.

That's it... I came here when I was a kid,really young.

And my parents went to block nine,our first home here.

Even there, there were only fields.All bushes. No houses, nothing...

And almost no houses in the antena (Slum)Either. Barely anything...

I was born in serro, minas gerais

I got here to work,to look after some plots of land...

I came to live here,by then, I didn't even have children.

I started workingin the country when I was 6...

Cutting sugar cane,cropping coffee, clearing fields.

Because I ended up hereat 15,until then I'd lived in abundance:

Lots of beans, lots of rice, lots of corn.

From here, all the way to the streetfull of storehouses filled with corn.

I came to work in family houses,I worked a while as a house maid.

It was afterwards that I came here,to morro das pedras.

I'm from dores de guanhăes,in the country.

I got married there, I came here alreadywith three children.

Lúcia, another boy who's not living here,

and another girl too.

I came from pará de minas, I was bornand raised there, until I was 21.

Then I came here,because living over there

was always more expensive and difficult.

I had a sister living up there,on nossa senhora de lourdes street.

Then I got around, I bought a littlecr$1.500 shack.

Back then, in 1968 that was good money.

Then I met my husband

and have lived with him since then,we've been together since 1976.

By that time he was unemployed,the money I made sewing wasn't enough...

I said: "Let's go collect cardboard."

I was born and raised here.

I didn't go to school becausemy mother didn't provide that for me.

She only worriedabout getting me to work.

Since she was raised in the countrywithout a mother,

she didn't go to school either,

she had to take care of younger brothers...She thought it had to be the same for me.

Even if she didn't send me to schoolto learn to read,

she gave me life education. It's alright.

There were few houses in here,it was all mud.

There was only one entrance.

The street went straight upto nova granada and back.

The stone quarry started near the streamand expanded up to the top.

Where you see that little neighborhood,full of buildings,

it went into a road just like this sofa.

Hills on both sides.

Sometimes I just keep gazing at it...

Boy, look at where I used to go gettimber, the size of those buildings now.

Landfill

my father decided to go to nova limato work in the mines. So we went with him.

There I got marriedand came back here again,

I had a little house heremade of wattle and daub.

Afterwards we made it from adobe.

Do you know what adobe is?

But first it was an ovenbird's house,wattle and daub, like this.

It was after I had my whole family

that the dump went there,to the first hole.

After that it came here,to the stone quarry.

I carried on working in the city,in family houses, as a maid.

When the dump moved over here,when it became a steady thing,

I started working in the dump everyday.

I worked 18 years with madame ivete.On my days off, I would go to the dump.

Then I got out, I stayed in the dump,

until it endedand it was almost the end of me too.

In 1960 we used to collect garbagein the streets,

because I was a maid,

and when I had my first babymy bosses began to be afraid of having me.

And they wanted to take my childaway from me.

"No, I wont give my son away,I'll work in the streets."

We would get ourselves a cart,

I'd buy old newspaper packagesand resell them.

I'd buy bottles, I'd work the same wayi worked for years here at the dump.

I found a partner and we'd go getnails at the nail factory.

3 to 4 kg. Of nails a day,it was worth good money.

We'd sell them, that's howwe began to make a living as salvagers.

I used to go all the way to the streetsand back, where people I knew would say:

"Don't come here you fool, there's morewhere you live."

"The trucks are taking everythingover there,

when you get here they have already left."

I began to learn the tricks of the trade.

Soon afterwards, when my son turned 2,

flávio, the one who lives with me,was born.

I headed up there with them,I made a little bed,

the older one kept an eye on himwhile I worked.

Do you see that place up there?

That was where they dumped the garbage.All over there.

The truck stopped by a scaleand then unloaded everything.

And we would salvage,it'd get down to here.

When word got around,people began to come from other places.

It started getting crowded.

They'd come from ventosa, barragem.They'd all come to work here at the dump.

It'd get full, it became an anthill,because there was profit to be made.

Even now, when garbage is collectedthree times a week,

dwellers still dump garbageat the same spot.

Now it's called ecological reserve.

It was after I came to live herethat they started dumping garbage.

Some time later I became unemployed...

Someone told us that there were peoplesalvaging cans, glass, aluminum...

So we could do the same and buyourselves food, me being unemployed.

I worked more than 3 years at the dump.

The trucks would come and unload...

The collectors, the dumpsters,that big truck... the city garbage trucks.

That was the heavy one,when it unloaded.

As as soon as it finished unloadingi'd climb on top.

And I'd start digging with the rakes.

To salvage glass, cans...

Cardboard, verlon, do you know verlon?

Those plastic balls, those rubber shoes...

We call it verlon.

We'd salvage verlon, everything sorted.

It was good money,we could even build our house.

Many times you could find sand and gritsomewhere, and go fetch it with the cart.

If they were to throw it away, you would already be taking it.

The supporting Wallis also all made of remains.

We'd bring many different things,

or just buy them with the moneyof the scraps we salvaged.

It's all there in the walls.

We took many things from the dump,the whole house is made from waste.

It's called "waste",but in itself its not completely waste.

Because in it you can find frozen meat,frozen chicken.

So you could find anything, things to eatand things to sell: Cans, cardboard...

Scrap, copper.

So, the dump offered an option,a living to many people here.

In the dump you could findthings of value too.

You could always finda little piece of gold.

I've already found two gold ringsin that dump.

- But never money, have you?- I've found money indeed.

It´s happened...

It was restaurant garbage...

It was a pile of used coffee powder,

I was going through it,and when I less expected it...

I found that handful of money.

The truck arrived, we searched with hoes.

And we sold... we would stay untilthe evening...

And we'd sell to the ownersof the warehouses right there.

There were warehousesto buy in the same spot.

Those were people who worked there.

So they decided to establisha place where they could buy from us.

The scrap truck would comeevery weekend to pick it up.

We made more money that waythan working as maids.

Some people liked it.

Besides, the money we madewas good money.

I'm telling you, back then,

working as a maid I used to make cr$100,cr$120 a month.

You worked at a house for 4 or 5 people.

You did a lot of houseworkand made cr$120.

You could make the same cr$120in 15 days at the dump.

Where was the advantage?It was being in the dump.

And you didn't have a boss.

Everything was organized.

We'd sell even little shards of glass.

Everything was separated, there wasa scale, warehouses for each thing.

Copper, metals, iron...

We would sell tin too,and we also used it to make anything.

My room was all made from oil cans.The fence, all tin.

Everything we got from the dump.

In the old days, this hut was all tin.

Strange, huh?A shack made of tin and wood.

Once it caught fireand we lost everything.

We were completely homeless...

Thank God there was no one home,nobody died.

We are all alive.

Some days I'd get there at eight o'clock.

After I made breakfast... I cooked withtimber. I didn't even have gas.

It wasn't all bad, I worked all day long.I'd take food I made for the kids.

I'd take food for my daughter here.

I'd take her there too.Worked all day long.

I'd go back home to get water,because we didn't have any over there.

To bathe them, to cook.

Some days I'd go to sleep after midnight.

You know?

It was a very busy life, but we made it.

You know?

Until the '60s, most products were packedin glass, metal and lined paper.

When I began to work at the dump,

the first thing I'd dowas to bring those torches...

Made of tow and gasoline.

We used them to light a fire here.

We'd get old car batteries... thosebig lamps... we would turn them on...

My kid was very curious,the one who lives with me.

He knew about car parts, he understoodthe lamps, he got the batteries.

He put them together and they shone witha bright light, people passed by saying:

"Where are these peoplegetting electricity from?"

Everybody was surprised,it was battery light.

By then we didn't even have electricity,it was all dark.

Sometimes we were going up, to get homeand take a bath to sleep...

And people said:"Don't go over there, there's a ghost."

"Haunted?" It was because it was so dark,with no lights.

People would see so many things,by then...

I never saw anything, thank God.I always say I'm not that fearful.

Thank God. He never gave methe chance to see anything.

That's why I'm alive until today,isn't it?

I used to go like this:

A skirt,

very tight pants, because I was afraidroaches and bugs would crawl up my legs...

And shoes with socks.

And I wrapped a piece of clotharound my face, above the nose...

Like cowboys, you see?Really tight.

When it was already the eveningand we took it off, just like this.

I'd take it off, throw it away andget a new one the next day.

I'd get on the truck...

The truck came,we grasped to the back of the trucks...

To start searching inside,I'm talking about regular trucks.

We'd grasp with the rakes,

and use them to get inside the truckand start searching inside.

Not the garbage trucks.Those we waited to unload.

It would go turningand unloading down there.

This is what it was...

Our tools, we'd work with them.

This is what you call a rake.

What we struck the waste with...

To lift it and get what we found.

- Did you put a handle there?- Yes, a handle, just like a hoe.

Just like a hoe.

Like this...

Then the bag would hang like this...

So we would be dragging with one hand,

and with the other,we could get what we had found...

Hanging like this.

Because if you put it down,somebody else could grab it.

It was a huge hole...

We'd get down there to get things.

Some times the garbageslided with our weight,

and we'd fall with it,rolling in a ball of garbage...

You would end down there.

Risking getting buried under the garbage.

We were risking our very lives.

With that dump down there.

The collector truckwould come and unload.

It'd fall down there...People would run like crazy...

People ran like crazy,falling in the middle of the dump...

Tires rolling over people...

- It was a very risky life...- It's true!

Tires rolling, people dodging them...

Oh dear...

It's difficult. I can't even get startedand my eyes get all wet.

It was really tough, I'm telling you.

Good thing it's over.

You have to say:"Thank God it's over!"

There were flies, there were vultures,

there could be anythingin the middle of the dump.

We saw many loosing their livesunder the truck...

Dying smashed under the truck...Much went down in there.

Many people I knew are there,buried under the dump.

Dona jurandir's folks...

She lived down there, is that right lúcia?

During those times, her whole familygot buried at the bar down there.

Inside the dump...

You'd see people dying next to you...Smashed by the trucks,

under the supports of the dumpsters.

Everybody in a hurry...

When the dumpster was released...

You'd hear heads bursting: "Pow!"

Just like a glass jar full of water.

Dear God...

I saw many die near me...

A little boy called...

Lil' angel, we called him...His mother yelled at him all the time...

We hanged the bag...

Around the neck.

He was running very close to the truck.

The garbage truck, the big one.

Oh dear...

It pulled it in...

The bag beneath the wheel.

He tried to pull it out, everybodywas screaming, but what could we do?

The driver couldn't hear us.

It pulled him down, and rolled over himpressing him into the waste.

Seu joăo's son died with...

That support of the dumpster...

Falling on his head.

We saw many...

Fetuses, many.

They came with the garbage,

sometimes you thought it wassomething else, and when you checked...

There was a baby in there,we got very sad with that sort of things.

You'd find babies already being eaten byvultures... it was very sad.

Just seeing a baby lying in the middleof the garbage...

We'd find chopped off fingers...

Birth remains...

I even found human armswithin the garbage...

It's too much...

You'd find many good thingsand many bad things.

It's true.

When I stuck the rake to lift the garbage,I found some wrapped clothes.

I even told a boy, who died some time ago,walter, son of eunice:

"Walter, come help me get this,

I think it's a papayaand I want to make some jam..."

"I'll get it..."

He said: "Then don't stick the rake,or microbes will get in it,"

"you won´t be able to use it."

"Let it unwrap, then I'll get it for you."

Good thing I didn't plunge itwith the rake...

We pulled it with the rake and when it gotnear us and it unwrapped...

When I saw it I was really shocked.

It turned up to be a child.

A very, very beautiful boy.

Big, with his bald little head...

Like when my son was born.

Pretty, strong, about 3 kg...

That was my saddest moment at the dump.

I'll never forget it when...

Two women were fighting...

We always remember thisbetween friends...

The truck arrived, dumped the garbage...

Everything came together,even hospital waste...

Which wasn't separated like nowadays.

They say they are very seriousabout that now, which I doubt...

Somebody is always skipping the rule.

So, they were both fightingover a suitcase,

a brand new travel suitcase,who doesn't want a suitcase?

When the suitcase opened,there was a fetus inside.

That day we got scared out of our minds...

Many cops came, it was a big mess.

The other story is about a family.

When the meat truck came it was mad,it'd turn into a battle.

They said "this is mine" and that was it.

A few days later the woman said:"I got some meat..."

"But I can't eat it."

When you put that meat in the pan,it'd release a strange foam...

We found out it was human meat.When they got the bag...

They were cuts of human meat.

She said it was sweet.

I started to be afraid of meat.

Well, if it's chicken,you can always tell...

But if it's cow...Our meat looks almost the same.

So, cow or swine meat I...

I used to say: "I don't knowwhere this meat came from..."

Now I'll tell you a story...

You'll like this...

Sometimes, inspectors wouldseize orange and tangerine trucks,

cheese trucks, and bring them here.

Fish, chicken trucks,they'd bring them all here.

What they said was expiredlooked fresh to us.

Oh! It was a spree whenwe were picking up all that cheese...

Getting all that frozen chicken...

Because they said it couldn't be soldanymore, but it was all frozen,

it wasn't rotten, it didn't stink at all.

They'd bring a lot of chicken.

I once had to protect a little boy, I hadto protect him with my body like this...

With one hand on the ground and the otherholding the kid...

He was 7 or so...

Mothers would leave themall alone searching.

In the moment I said "this one is mine,this one is mine!" I was holding like 4.

And the poor little boywas holding 3 or so...

And everybody jumped on us.

I was screaming:"Stop! You are killing the kid! Stop!"

And they didn't believe me.

When they finally started to leave us aloneand the boy got up, he said:

"You saved me miss..."

At some point it was good.

Codfish on holy week...

They used to bring one boxafter the other...

The dump brought us many good things,it helped a lot of people.

Just like in the store over there,if you go and check it out you'll see.

There are a lot of things at the storethat are ready to be thrown away,

and they're still selling themfor the same price.

While in the dump trucks would come full.

And you could choose.

If an orange was rotten you didn'tpick it. You picked the good ones.

If an apple had a hole you didn't pick it.You picked the good ones.

And now we have to pay.

These days I say: When we were at the dump,what they brought us was better...

Than what you can find at the store.

And it was separated.

Food was put apart.

There was a truck from arlindo,from the market...

It brought everything separated for us...

Sometimes it arrivedat 5 in the morning...

Yelling "chicken! Chicken!"Or fish, anything.

We were very well nourished.

Some started to be plain evil.When there was a fire, and it was deep.

Some driverswould not obey the inspectors.

The inspector ordered a driver to unloadwhere we could get the things,

and he would go and unload the truckinto the fire.

One day a driver dumped...

A world of frozen chickendirectly into the fire.

And everyone flew over thereto catch them.

It just opened and closed.

Swallowed everybody.

Whoever was able to escape survived,some weren’t

those who got away got crippled,

without legs, ripped off...I don't know how this happened.

It was just a momentwhen they got into that fire,

when they got out...It's that gas, isn't it?

When they got out they where crippled.

Hands, whatever it touched.

You got stuckin that garbage all on fire...

Even before you could see it,if you felt it was hot...

It was better to stay off it.

Or you could get out without a limb.

There were some at the dumpwho knew how to use that gas, you know?

Gas?

That's right...There was mister raimundo...

He used to cook muxiba, meat leftovers,for us to eat with bread.

Chicken claws...

So he used the gas of the waste...

He cooked that stuff on it...Many would buy that and eat it.

How do you call it?Delicatessen!

Delicatessen!Chicken claws!

- Muxiba.- Muxiba too...

This guy, skull...

He'd make a fuse out of tow.

Then he'd make a hole in the groundand tuck it in.

After two days or so,he could light a fire.

Everything had been collapsingfor a long while.

We told themand they wouldn't believe us.

Soldiers on horseback went there to chasethem away, but nobody wanted to leave.

A very angry soldier wanted totrample on them.

I still remember a story aboutme and a Brazilian flag...

I had a big Brazilian flag.

I used to keep whatever was of any value.

When the soldier aimed for usi raised the flag and yelled:

"In the name of God!"

"You won't pass, this belongs to God,brazil belongs to God..."

"And you won´t pass."

They started to laugh at me, thenthey lowered their heads and went away.

The soldier said: "You can stay today, butif I find you here tomorrow, you'll see."

I didn't go back...

I didn't go back, other fools did...So, I don't know if the soldiers returned.

But that day they didn't trampleon anybody.

They were ordering us out,because we were in danger.

That was when when the dump fell down...

Because we used to make holesto be able to support our houses.

But the ground was only garbage,that was what caused the tragedy.

When we were only salvaging,that wasn't a problem at all.

The problem was when we began to buildaround the dump.

Everybody started building houseson the margins.

It became a city...

Because...

People worked there,there was a lot of salvaging going on.

People started to come fromvery far.

Like this... this is the hole...

They built houses over that passage...Over the other one, down to the exit.

When the dump fell everythingfell with it, there was nothing to say:

"People lived here"

on the day of the big explosion,I had already been there.

I still remember everything,I had got a lot of chicken...

I had cooked for them,and left them alone,

and went there only to get some thingswe had left there on the side.

When I got here to rest, beforei went back there in the afternoon...

It was sad.

You could only see those burstsgoing up, the smoke rising.

We said: "What's going on?It's down there"

neighbors who knew us,

started to come here to seeif I was home or at the dump.

"Mom, are you there?!"

"There's people looking for you,"

"they say the dump caught fire,that there was a slide!"

I said: "I can't believe it,I've just been there."

That red smoke rising,

it rose with all those bursts,it lifted something that popped like that.

I left them here and went over thereto see, but they followed me.

I was afraid for them.When we got there it was all true.

Lots of people...

Vanishing in the smoke,in order to cross to the other side.

That day was really busy.

It sounded like splintering wood.

Like a log cracking.That noise.

It was as if a big log was breaking.

That day?

No, by then I had already left,I was over here.

It was only when we heard the noisethat we run to help.

Everybody went to help.

It rolled down like this, leavinga black track, filled with water.

It stank everywhere,that gas, that burnt stench.

It just went: "Roooow!"

It was an explosion.

It rolled straight down andended up over there at the stream.

It was like a bomb being dropped.

And all that smoke rose...

It was still normal... no fire.

It was only the dump.

Then it started letting out allthat smoke...

Then it caught fire. First it wasthe furthest side which got more fire.

Over there...Then the fire swallowed everything.

There was a little baron the other side...

Those poor guys who thinkonly of booze...

Ah... some meat and a glass of cachaça.

They burned together with the bar...It took everything...

Oh no... God...

That place is a real graveyard.

The big tragedy took place onnovember 18th, 1971.

There was a smaller incidentthe following year.

There are no trustworthy records aboutthe number of lives lost under the slide,

nor the number of deaths during the timeswhen the dump was still functioning.

The dump was officially deactivatedin 1975.

Today, morro das pedras is a favelasurrounded by tall buildings and avenues.

Almost 20 thousand peoplelive in that slum.

That's right son...It was tough in the beginning...

Everybody was like...

If somebody had taken everybody'sdaily bread.

It was tremendous suffering.

There were many families depending on it.

There weren't just one or two, they were like ants.

Many families relying on it...

Jobs were already hard to get...

For those who were used to that.

Everybody just stayed,suffering deprivation.

Those who could,started salvaging in the streets...

In the trash, in front of the stores,the supermarkets.

Then, everyone had to findsome kind of job to do.

I washed cars... did all sorts of things,cleaned buildings...

Survival for me?It stayed the same.

Even better. Because I worked alone,calm.

I went to the schools...

The women already knew me...

"With you it's alright, because you alwaystidy up."

"It's the kids who make a terrible mess,"

"we don't let them do it anymore...But you can, you tidy up very well"

so I unloaded all the bags,I picked what I wanted.

Put the rest back in the bags,and put the bags back.

And carried on for a long while...

Oh son, truth be told...

Some people...

They saw us with good eyes...

"Oh... poor people..."

Sometimes I got things in the cityat night

collecting paper with my daughters.

Housewives would come downfrom the buildings to give us clothes...

Shoes, food.

Others were scared of us just stoppingin front of their buildings or houses.

Frowning upon us.

You understand.

"What are you doing here at my gate?"

With some people, when we were onlygetting... their garbage!

Which was only going to bethrown away.

They came like this...

They snatched the things off our hands...Really aggressively.

"Not here! Get out! Get out!"

I don't know.

I really don't know why, I still wonder about it.

Over there on...

Săo Paulo street, there was a woman...I wouldn't go there.

When I saw my mates in the streetsi used to say: "Don't go there..."

"Don't go there,you'll only get disappointed."

That woman comes all the way downand snatches the bag right off your hand.

There were some placeswhere you had to know

where you could askfor a glass of water.

You couldn't just step in any gardento drink water...

It could be bad.

"Go get water somewhere else!Don't come bother me!"

"I don't have water to spare!"

And such.

As soon as it ended I started sweeping.For a company.

I worked for nascimento valadaresfor two and a half years.

Then I went to slu-bh.(City's cleaning system)

I've been there for 30 years.

Sweeping.

Younger women all got jobsas street sweepers.

Even me by that time...

I registered here, I wasn't registered.

On my identification I'm about to be...67.

But...

In the flesh, I'm... 79.

I'll be 80 in November.

I was born in 1930!

You do the math.

I changed it in order to get in the slu,

I couldn't do it with my birth age...

After I got my papers I didn't go,because my son got... into drugs

and I had to stop working.

I gave up my place andstarted working as a maid again.

I used to work by day as a maid, as ifi worked at your house, his, hers, etc.

I would finish work, get out...

And go to the city.

Then I did my search all around the cityand gathered everything near the market.

When I got everything together,my kids came with the cart.

Sometimes we didn't have rice and beans.

But we had many good things.

We had a lot of vegetables,a lot of fruit, cheese, meat...

But God helped me out so much that...

I didn't even have to buy notebooksfor my sons.

I just passed by the doors ofthe schools...

And got lots of notebooks, pencils,chalk, everything.

Thank God, ours is a rich country.

You only see poverty if you arepoor yourself, and live among the poor.

Because the sons of the rich,those who study in expensive schools.

They use and throw awayenough to provide for two or three sons.

I'd bring notebooks only half full.

Once I went to the school and a teacherbegan to praise me,

I didn't know why.

"I've seen you educating your children,you really want them to learn."

"Do you remember thatwhen you brought them here..."

"You'd make them notebooksout of brown paper?"

That rough paper, for wrapping...

I'd make notebooks with that.

I folded them, straighten themwith an iron.

Then I sewed the center.

And made them a nice cover.

I'd make really nice notebooksfor them to go to school.

They never had to quit becauseof a pencil or a notebook.

Until about three years ago...

You'd go to those residential buildings...

And the garbage was outside, you could goand gather whatever you could sell.

Like newspapers, cardboard,plastic bottles.

Whiskey bottles, egg cartons...

Now you can't salvage that anymore,it's all kept inside.

The garbage men go inside

and grab everythingto take straight to the landfill.

By then, it was put outside,and salvagers like me and him...

Could salvage.It isn't possible anymore.

It's all kept inside,no one can salvage anymore.

I mean, many thingsthe poor could use to make a living...

Can't be used, because the supervisiondoesn't allow it.

Even vegetables, they mix everythingin the garbage.

I work downtown and alwayssee that at the stores.

They could give that to people in need,for it not to go to waste.

- A lot of people could use that.- It's a waste.

With so many people in need.

Many who don't even have moneyto buy a few vegetables.

And it all goes to the garbage truck.

Working downtown I seebananas...

Very good banana bunches.

Yesterday I found a bunch of bananas,I already ate them with rice.

Really cool bananas.

- Lúcia isn't slow at all.- Really good bananas you can use.

Good.

I'm not ashamed.

A shame would be not to do it.

If it can be used I'll use it.

And I just carried on...My survival.

I don't know why, only God knows,I've always had food on my plate.

At home, in the morning, when my kidswere all young

and I had to take care of them.

I'd bring everything at nightand prepared it in the morning.

There was bread, there was coffee,even milk.

There was a place on the Avenue,some kind of market.

That man would leave for methose milk boxes, a little leaky on top.

He would pack themand I would go and get two, three boxes.

I'd get hereand boil everything very well.

I put it in bottles,I still didn't have a refrigerator.

I gathered what I got in the morning.

At night everything was readyfor the morning.

Garbage collection, South central(Nightly, 6 times a week)

I'm not saying it's worse now.Now it's even a nice place.

It's clean, it doesn't stink anymore.

Because the stench was strong too.

We had to live with that...Lots of flies.

There were rats, roaches.

Now it's clean, it's smells good,the village changed.

The old dwellers, who were alreadyused to it, have all gone away.

Those who remainmake do however they can.

Before we were all more united,more human.

We cared more for each other,helped and stood up for each other.

Not anymore,now everybody is on his own.

Nobody sits at the dooranymore.

In the times of the dump,we stayed up until dawn.

There were people playing the guitar,singing, waiting for the garbage truck.

It was a spree, we were happy,not anymore.

Now it´s sad.

In the times of the dump, life was joyful.

Dirty, full of rats and bugs.But joyful.

Really fun.

When I look at it now, I feel likea desire to see it like it was before.

Everybody there, working...

And over there, in the favela,there were little dancing spots.

The accordion, it was my daughter'sgrandpa. Her father played the guitar...

People danced,there were night lamps.

We were happy, it was good,it was lovely.

Better than now?I think so.

It was.

No, not me. Thank God I alreadyforgot all about it.

Now my life has changed.

I have a job,I come home and do my housework,

I go to church to the praying group,and that's my life.

Thank God, everything was very goodfor me by then.

But everything comes to an end.

I don't speak ill of the dump,it helped me a lot.

It helped me while my husbandwas unemployed.

Without it we'd have starved.

It was even good...

That it closed.

Because... oh dear,the smell we had to bear...

It invaded the homes...

If it rained much,the sun afterwards...

Holy Mary!It was that fume.

It invaded everything,I mean, it was even getting to the city.

The wind takes everything wereit wants and were it doesn't.

Whenever it shook a little and fell,it didn't have to be an explosion.

It was enough, just a little shake,that little stench went up...

That smell.

I'm going to tell you,this is the truth.

We were happier.

Because we weren't so scared.

In the late nineties,

morro das pedras became one of the mostviolent areas in belo horizonte.

Age keeps coming and dreamskeep going away.

I've already sewn, trimmed bushes,made dresses for poor brides.

I've gone to dancingschools to help the girls,

I've put people to work,I've taught how to sew.

Now I want to have a future for me...

Old and all, but lookingat life like it is... sane.

I want that.

I still hope God will stillgive me more time.

So its necessary to always be aware.

Always praying and watching.

Evangelic or not,catholic or of any other belief.

Watching and praying.

Anything, nobody liveswithout praying.

You say: Oh lord,help me because alone I can't make it.

In the city,there are approximately 1500 salvagers.

Many are associated to cooperatives.

Nobody talked about recyclingand we were already doing it.

Not everything ended up in the ground.

Everything that goes to the ground,comes back to us.

Because the rain falls,and that will end up in the stream.

From the streamit goes to the tap.

Then, waste is being buriedand I don't think that's a good thing.

Buried waste is there...

Even when they saythey extract the gas...

But what about all the timeit spends rotting in there?

For it to generate gas...

All that ends up in the stream,the rain falls over it...

It drains and it ends up in the stream.Don't come telling me it doesn't.

The waste...It does indeed.

That's why many small towns don'taccept landfills...

Because they ruin the fountainheads.

They do.

Classification centerfor waste sorting (Asmare)

In belo horizonte, recyclablewaste sorting is up to each resident.

Only 1.6% of the city's residentialwaste is sent to waste sorting.

We are really more worried aboutrecycling.

I was, many times,washing cars and gathering cans.

I'd get there and sell the cans...

Those plastic bottles...I give them to dona nega, she sells them.

Then, there is a wayof solving the problem.

Up here we can solve the problemhaving a place to store.

I don't sell there anymore.Sometimes I think...

I could use it but not so much,others need it more than me.

Almost every week I leave outa bag, this high, of plastic bottles.

Everything sorted.

A can is in the garbagebut it's not garbage, it has value.

An aluminum pan,it's burned and you throw it away.

But it's not garbage,it's aluminum...

They take it, they clean it,melt it, get that powder...

And make other pans,other things.

So, I've been recyclingmy whole life.

Today it's in my house,with my daughters.

Can this be thrown away?

Is it cookie wrap?Is it rice pack?

For everything I have a bag.

I find it strange when people...I really like fishing...

To get to a river, to a lake,and find it full of plastic bottles...

Of plastic bags, plastic,shoes, tires...

I ask myself...How is it that they don't think...

That it's going to ruin.

We are already losing some things.

But if I'm seeing itand you are seeing it, others aren't.

Not knowingthat it's a part of their lives.

- How come?- If you don't eat you don't make garbage.

If you don't wear clothesyou don't make garbage.

So, garbage is your very life.

Because what you used and disposedof is what you are throwing away.

Don't come saying it's not...Your life is your garbage.

People think garbage is somethingnasty, smelly...

Not all garbage is smelly.

When my husband and iwere salvaging scrap and cardboard...

And we opened a garbage bag...Holy Mary!

Some yuppies would pass bycovering their noses.

And I'd start to sing, laughing...

I'd think: Silly of them,I'm working for my survival...

For me it didn't stink.

They thought it did... so...

Some people are disgusted bygarbage, but...

Most of those who livedoff it...

Have always liked it.

Ctrs (Sanitary landfill) Br-040

the landfill belongs to the city

and was createdto replace the dump at morro das pedras.

It was active between 1975 and 2007.

Trans-shipment station.

And I think there's more wastethan before.

Back then it came mostly fromfood... food and clothing.

Now it's different,with electronics and such.

Back then, if you found a radiobetween the garbage,

you'd fix it and kept using it...

Now they are by the ton...

I always say, in the old timesthings used to last more.

You'd buy a TV and that was it,you forgot about it.

That black and white tvlasted forever.

Now they have to be fixedall the time...

If you buy a music player,one moment you are there, enjoying it...

The next one you alreadyneed to have it fixed.

So, instead of paying a bundleto have it fixed I buy a new one.

The other goes to the garbage.And where will it end up?

People throw away many things...They throw away sofas,

they throw away closets.

Many things that are still usable,are thrown away.

Beds, kitchenware...

In the old days, you'd findthings like those in the dump.

- I saw that on TV the other day...- Out there... in other countries...

They throw away things that are barelyused, that many could still use.

Then, it's wastage.

They throw those thingsaway and nobody is allowed to get them...

They just remain as waste.

- In the usa?- They throw lots of things away.

- Objects of value...- What I said, wastage.

Things somebody could use,are thrown away.

I believe recycling is a fine goal,you know why?

It takes things away from the garbage,which don't need to go to the landfill.

Where they are taking them now.

They say it's being taken veryfar from the city now,

well, I think it's a good idea.

Because now they say thereare even cooperatives...

If I were younger I wouldtake a chance at recycling.

But now I'm very tired,I don't want that anymore.

Because now it's not the same people.

Some still make a livinglike that, but there are few.

You think young people todaywould want to touch garbage?

Back then, young people would do it.

They were there, with their mothers.They'd be kids with their parents there.

Young people wouldn'tdo such a thing anymore.

Now they want expensive shoes,nice clean clothes, fragrant hands.

I agree there should be more awareness...

Within the population about it.

An example: If you won't salvage,would you at least sort it and take it...

And take it to the right place?

Just the people,to avoid overfilling the landfill.

Everybody should do it.

Help each other to do it quicker.

That's why our countrytakes so much to grow.

They are slow at doing things,and when it's time to have done them...

"Oh, I could have done this last year."

How much of what we threw awaylast year?

If we had started last year,today it would already be bigger.

It'd have grown more.

It's just that, most don't do itbecause they just don't have the will.

It's lack of will of helpingeach other.

It's people who don´t want tohelp anyone and think it's not necessary.

And believe it'll never be.

But they don't know. What they threw awaytoday, will be missing tomorrow.

I think it's lack of knowledge...In schools and such.

Some times they study thingsas if they were very important...

And what's really importantis left behind.

Young people now,don't want to watch a report.

They won´t watch a regular report,where they could learn something from.

You know?

They don't know,they don't.

I myself worked in many households,and for them...

"Throw that away it's worthless"I said: "It has!"

That person is an ignorantwho doesn't care about the world...

Who doesn't care about anybody.

They don't care about what willbe ruined...

They say, it's not with me...It´s ruining, big deal...

It´s people who don't care for their own good, for mine, for yours.

If everybody recycled it would help...

If they just stopped and thought about it,but not everyone does that.

And I'll tell you,many problems in the city...

Come from rich people whodo many wrong things.

Ctr-macaúbas (Sanitary landfill)Sabará-mg

since 2007, this is wherebelo horizonte's waste comes to.

The queiróz galvăo group,responsible for this enterprise,

denied us access to the premises,after 114 days of negotiation.

This landfill accepts wastefrom 5 more cities

and it's being prosecutedfor many charges

that could lead to its shutdown.

The community claimshaving been deceived

with a projectfor a local recycling plant.

All waste is buried at 300 metersfrom Rio das velhas,

next to an active quarry.

The average amount of waste arriving orwhich arrives in one day,

only from belo horizonte,is 3,5 thousand tons.

The city spends about 25 us dollarsfor each buried ton.

You were talking about tons...

On TV they talk in tons,that the city's garbage is increasing...

Even more than in other cities.

It's being measured.

And they can't find out why.

Could it be becausethey are not recycling?

If there's no recycling,everything ends up in that hole.

I don't think that's correct.

If I salvaged, everybody was salvaging,back then.

Besides making money for ourselves,we were helping preserve.

Because it was being recycled.

That's all over.

If it's being buried there,nobody is salvaging anymore.

Getting those things, doingwhat we were doing here.

It was a solution... and there's notjust one culprit.

Everyone should be aware ofof what's happening...

And be able to see what is going on.

And it's going to end somehow,it will get overfilled.

Where are they going to takethe waste?

It's difficult...

It's going to be tough even for them.

- For many!- For everyone.

It's a huge amount of garbage,and it's only increasing.

For everyone!

And it's only going to get worse.

What we used to separate 40 years ago,is not being separated anymore.

Now it's us who have to sort the wasteand put it out.

I don't think it's hardto recycle at home.

I think... if everyone thought about it,there wouldn't be so many mistakes.

But, sometimes it's up tothe big heads.

I believe the future of wasteis going to be difficult.

Everyday it's more and more.

It's a lot of garbage being made.

They are saying they'll ban plastic bagsin supermarkets by 2011.

I really doubt it.

They just can't.

The government should provide anadequate place,

on public lands,to put the waste in.

And also... they say fertilizer can bemade from waste, so...

They could start usingwaste somehow.

For plantations,anything.

In a short while there'll benowhere else to put it.

It will all be private

with its low levels of waste sorting,

Brazil throws 4.7 billion us dollarsliterally to the trash.

During the production of this documentary,

the state passed its national policyfor solid waste,

after 21 years in the federal congress.

The law establishesthe following priorities:

Non production, decrease, reuse,

recycling, treatmentand adequate final disposal.

It determines the shared responsibilityfor waste;

and reverse logisticsfor reusable products;

but it doesn't decreemandatory waste sorting.

Dumps will be eliminated and,even in sanitary landfills,

salvaging is forbidden.

For example, I have two garbage bagsfor the collectors.

If I recycled or reused some of it

they would take less than a half,it's less being thrown away.

And what I kept,has to be reusable.

If I threw everything away,there wouldn't be enough space.

Wouldn't that be a good option?To throw away only what's really useless?

The truck would only takewhat can´t be used anymore.

So let's have a warehouse wherea group of people could recycle...

That neighborhood's waste,call it the neighborhood's dump.

The waste goes there,people recycle it.

What can't be recycled is takenby the truck.

And what's recycled generates a profit.I believe it could be good.

Better than just having hundreds of trucksto take all the waste to a single place.

How many years did the other landfill last?So, that's a really short time.

Now they are looking for a new one,which will be full in little time.

Our lives and the waste,is a nasty fight.

It'll last forever.

That fight between the peopleand the waste.

I can't tell because I'm almostdeparting.

I'm 74 and I don't know howmuch more I have.

But those who come...

They just will pay for the sinners.

Dedicated to all the communitiesthat take society's garbage.