Wastepickers

The children and their mothers who look through trash for food to eat are highly malnourished. We provide meals and meal supplements to the children whom we support.

We enroll children in primary school, and free them of the burden of needing to earn money by selling items found in the trash. We provide extra tutoring in bridge programs.

We provide microloans to the mothers of trash-dump children to start businesses. They have successfully used these microloans for opening small stores and for making and selling jewelry and dresses.

We empower a self-reliant attitude among women by training them in useful skills to help them earn a better living. We implement long-term projects to enable the community to become self sufficient.

The Wastepickers program of The Unforgotten is one of the few charities in the world dedicated to helping “wastepickers” or “waste pickers” in developing countries. In the places where we operate, we are usually the only charity working on site. Working conditions are extremely difficult. In parts of Asia, these destitute individuals are often referred to as “rag pickers”. In some parts of the world, they are referred to as “garbage scavengers”. In West Africa, the trash dumps are called “bomehs”. Whatever name given to them, or to their environment, our priority is helping the hungry children living inside the trash dumps scavenging for food in the waste.

We provide clean food and water, shelter, schooling and a future for wastepickers living in, or near, trash-dumps.

Our Mission is to Provide Aid to Trash-Dump Children, End Extreme Poverty and Achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Special thanks to all our partners. Our work would not be possible without them.

Help us provide clean food & water, shelter, schooling and a future for wastepickers.

Help us provide clean food & water, shelter, schooling and a future for wastepickers.

Hunger Relief

Education

Income Generation

Women’s Empowerment

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