Because I am such a dork sometimes, I spent a few hours today watching this documentary. It's called Waste Land. And it was. So. Good. Now, it may just be my appreciation for art or my weakness for the humble-hearted, but this movie was so beautiful.
The artist, Vik Muniz, make art out of the trash found in the world's largest landfill in Brazil. There are people there who make a living picking through the trash to find recyclable materials. They are called "pickers." Muniz took portraits of a few of the pickers he had met, and with their help, and turned them into huge portraits in a studio using only materials found from the dump. They were amazing! The best part is, all proceeds made from the portraits were given directly back to these people to help them get out of the dump and help them better their lives.
A movie like this does two things. One, makes your realize how awesome we have it here in the states. The homes these people live in look like gross shacks to us, but to them, it is a home. And two, makes me want to do missions ten times more. People assume that the pickers are all drug addicts, prostitutes and alcoholics, because that is what the internet tells them. But talking to the people showed that that they are just trying to survive, are kind hearted, are proud to be pickers, and most of all, need help.
Like seriously, look at these portraits. ALL. MADE. OUT. OF. TRASH. OHHH MUHH GAWRSH!
She is a professionally trained cook, but found herself in the dump. She cooks food, right there within the trash, for all of the pickers, using the neglected food and meat from the markets that come in on the dump trucks.
He is the president of the association that represents the pickers. You'd be amazed at how smart he is. He reads all of the books he finds in the dump, that people have thrown away.
This girl is 18 years old with three kids, and has to spend weeks away from them at a time at the dump to support them.
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