This impoverished population, that has chosen to earn a living honestly, is exposed to a myriad of dangerous diseases. Many of those who have chosen to engage in this risky work are suffering from skin and respiratory diseases. There is a reason for that. Very often, they handle highly carcinogenic and toxic materials. These diseases mainly come from the fact that these garbage sorters are not provided with protective equipment. They work with bare hands, and without masks. This is the price they agreed to pay to feed their families. Most of these poor people are not from Bamako. They come from the inland provinces, driven by hunger and misery.
Under a scorching sun and hungry
On the huge waste mountains of Baco-Djicoroni and Sabalibougou located on the territory of the commune V, women and children are working from early morning to nightfall, in dusty and smelly atmosphere, to collect plastic bottles, tin cans, computer components or just wire. Everything can be recycled and so everything can make them earn some money. The days are long and the labour is exhausting. It is often under a blazing sun and hungry that these armies of waste pickers work.
Mama Camara, 65, a widow originally from Côte d'Ivoire, a country she had to leave after the death of her husband, is part of this group of people who go every morning to the landfills of Baco-Djicoroni and Sabalibougou. Instead of begging, she chose to work although she is old. Sitting among the debris she collected, Mama Camara has a big wound in the sole of the foot she had been had for 6 months. Her wound could not be healed, and was bleeding in places. "I have no one to feed me. What shall I do? So, I have to work. I collect items I sell in Dabanani, downtown to make a living. I earn an average of 1000 CFA per day *. However, I have to choose between eating or being treated. I cannot afford to do both, "she says on a discouraging note.
The social status of Mama Camara is doubly precarious. Besides being completely destitute, she is not Malian. Mama Camara can be expelled overnight, at any moment. She lives in a constant fear. She also says she fears everyday to be expelled by the municipality which will make her lose both her job and her makeshift shelter. A shelter made of old tin plates and pieces of wood. We can even say that she sleeps almost in the open. Mama Camara lives at the same level as the landfill where she works.
Busy to sort a multitude of battered objects beside a large jute bag filled with plastic bags and milk cans, Fatimata has been also working since dawn. She is 58, her face is sweaty and she is visibly exhausted. She says:" I do not know how long I can still do this activity. My health is deteriorating day by day. I sleep badly at night. My whole body itches and my eyesight begins to drop." Unfortunately, all those who are doing this exhausting job are not known to have a long life. Many of us left young and anonymous.
According to Dr. Cissé, a dermatologist at the Korofina Medical Center, women and children working in Bamako dumps are exposed to significant health risks. He says: " Because of contaminated objects, they can contract tetanus, AIDS, parasitic and microbial diseases, diseases related to digestive disorders, respiratory and skin infections". He adds by giving a warning:"The waste often consists of biomedical remains (syringes, gloves) that are not always accompanied by detoxification treatment."
At the health center in district Mali in commune V, a nurse says that "these women suffer greatly from diseases that scratch their body," before adding: "Several cases have been treated here and supported by the center. Others have not been so lucky, they end up using their diseases to beg. "
The municipality of the commune V provides some assistance in general to these women in a precarious situation. A municipal councilor nevertheless explains that "the town established a list of women who live from waste collection. It allows us to know who should benefit from the distribution of our donations during the month of solidarity."
In addition to the assistance of the municipality, several NGOs provided assistance to the poor during the crisis of the northern regions in 2011. "Patients were fully supported by NGOs. Municipalities were helpless during the crisis, they had no other choice but to ask NGOs and other associations for assistance."
Women's associations are among the organizations that are mobilized the most to assist women working in landfills. Ms. Traore Oumou Touré, President of the Coordinating Committee of Women's Associations and Organizations (CAFO) explains in this regard that "the situation of women living around landfills is taken into account by the association, through different sub committees". However, she says that her association cannot afford to assist them at any time. She said: "The State provides little assistance to those families who have no choice but to work in this field." She adds: "To help these women get out of this "hell, my NGO is identifying women who can have less hazardous activities such as washing clothes and housework."
With more resources, the NGO World Vision is assisting, meanwhile, all those living on waste collection. An officer from World Vision we met at Badalabougou, commune V says:"The assistance we provide is for everyone. Exceptionally, some of the women bring their prescription that we pay." But he adds that to help" workers" in landfills requires many more NGOs on the ground as sufferings and misery are very large.
