!Huelga!

The Monday before Day of Light, Lori and I were driving two Vanderbilt professors to Chureca with plans of meeting with some donors, going on a tour and maybe grabbing some lunch. One stoplight from the dump, we got a call from the other truck saying that there was a strike and no one could enter. The trash collectors and truck drivers have been removing the "trash of quality" for some time, preventing Churequeos for scavenging for the best recyclables. The workers had had enough and decided to use their bodies and the trash itself to keep trucks from dumping.

We approached the entrance with caution, but the line of men readily opened in order for us to pass. Another group of people directed us around barriers of trash, saying that they knew us because we helped with the school (we corrected them and let them know it was the clinic). At the weigh stations, I saw the faces of many of our mothers, their faces smiling with recognition and hope in what they were doing.

The trucks could not pass, but the community of La Chureca trusted us, and let us through.

The strike is now rapidly approaching a month and it seems to be at a standstill. The alcalde, or local government, says it cannot prevent the drivers from skimming (or the creation of outside recycling programs) and the Churequeos are too determined to stop without that promise. Problem is: no trash, no money; no money, no food.

Opinions about the strike vary widely among people living and working in Chureca, but everyone knows that something big is about to happen. Maybe this will make some men with skills leave the dump and look for a job elsewhere. Maybe this will make a young mother reconsider going back to school. Maybe it will just make the people of Chureca more dependent on non-profit workers. I don't know, but I will be there to see it happen.