Amid Nicaragua's poverty, religious groups, aid agencies offer hope

Published: 2007-12-05

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (CNS) -- At Managua's La Chureca garbage dump in Nicaragua, thousands of vultures swarm through thick, acrid smoke rising out of burning and smoldering mounds of garbage. Thousands more vultures pick through garbage on the ground. They also compete with a herd of cattle that have been put here to graze on the waste of a city. In their midst, hundreds of men, women and children, many in bare feet, scramble to find their own scraps of food and bits of recyclables. A city garbage truck drives into the dump and the fittest and swiftest men run and jump on, riding along until it stops. They want to be the first to use their makeshift picks and bare hands to sift through the fresh load of refuse. Seventeen-year-old Edwind has been coming to La Chureca every day for three years. He works at the dump 6 a.m.-5 p.m., earning $3 per day. Nearly one-half of Nicaragua's population of 5.5 million lives on less than $1 per day. It is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Yet, in the midst of the poverty, religious groups and international aid agencies offer hope.

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