Generate Income & Hope From Non-Recyclable Garbage

On September 4, XSProject once again partnered with Lestari Women and Children’s Hospital in Jakarta to conduct our annual Health Checkup for the trash picker families.

Seventy-four children and 35 adults received  complete checkups from the hospital nursing staff. For less than $5.00 each, which XSProject paid, every person received complete eye, ears, nose and throat exams. Despite urging from their wives, the men trash pickers are still fearful of doctors and medical clinics. Only one man came for the checkup.

Twenty-one adults and children received prescription glasses. We also treated one case of tonsillitis, many cases of chronic ear inflammation severe enough to cause deafness and several cases of cataracts.

These families make their homes at the open garbage dumps in Jakarta. Trash is typically burned which emits a constant flow of smoke. Methane from the rotting garbage hangs in the air they breathe daily and chemicals released from burning plastic, cause breathing problems.

Concern about the health of Jakarta’s trash picker community weighs on XSProject. In addition to the conditions the trash pickers live under, their diet has very little nutritional value and as a result, their health is fragile.

Until Jakarta’s “invisible” trash pickers can become “visible”, productive members of Indonesian society, their health and that of their children will continue to be tenuous and out of balance.

They rely on XSProject and we continue to offer vaccinations, treat chronic illnesses, pay for emergency treatment including surgery and provide eyeglasses and dental work.  The donations you make to GlobalGiving that XSProject receives, sometimes go to save a life, but more often pays for medicine to keep them healthy. Please help us continue our work with your donation to XSProject through GlobalGiving .