Lasse Bak Mejlvang

Home/Reports/Smokey Mountain

Smokey Mountain

Everyday, lorries dump tons and tons of garbage here. The locals call this place “Smokey Mountain”. We are in Manila, the capital of the Philippines: a colossal city housing over 16 million people. Smokey Mountain, a landfill, is now home for more than 5000 families. These families have all, in a most entrepreneurial fashion, constructed their homes simply by using waste material from the landfill site. In order to make ends meet, people here sort and sell whatever scattered material they find at the landfill site. In spite of the seemingly destitute living conditions, the locals at Smokey Mountain soldier on.