My Father’s “Dumpster Diving”
Thank you, Wanjiku, for sharing about your work with Jua Kali men. [See the article “Sharing RC with Workers in the Jua Kali Industry,” by Wanjiku Kironyo, on page 27 of Present Time No. 207.] You paint a vivid picture of their brilliance and ingenuity as well as the effects on them of oppression and addictions.
My Jíbaro (people of the forest) Indigenous raised-poor father came to the United States from Borikén (Puerto Rico) when he was seventeen. He couldn’t understand or support the waste and consumption of capitalism. He reused and repaired everything until he died eight years ago at the age of eighty-five.
Since he couldn’t work in the formal labor market (because of a disability), he “dumpster dived”—went through garbage containers—for what he called “hidden treasures.” He would clean or repair these items and then offer them at garage sales. He mostly gave them away [didn’t charge money for them] and held the “sales” as a pretext to visit with people who stopped by. He struggled with how isolated people are in the United States, so different from his upbringing.
We lived in the desert in the southwest United States. My father built a solar oven from discarded “treasures” and cooked in it for us. He also built, with scraps, a casita (little house) in our backyard.
USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in the transformation of society
(Present Time 207, April 2022)