The Dump

Yesterday I went to the dump with a medical team from Iowa. We gathered at La Vina in the golden zone and packed up the mobile kitchen.  After piling into the back of a truck, we stopped by Sams club to get 740 hot dogs and buns, and then on to the dump.  The way the garbage and recycling system works here is that instead of collecting them separately, there are people who sort through the landfill and collect recyclable items which then they sell to companies who do the actual recycling. The landfill is at the top of a big mountain, so you have to drive up pretty high.  The view as you drive up is spectacular because you can see the whole city and the ocean. 

There were a ton of people and birds combing over everything.  It was really muddy because of the recent rain and it smelled terrible.   

We parked the mobile kitchen a little ways from where people were working and set to work cutting up oranges, cutting open the buns, making 'Happy Sauce' (Mayo, ketchup, salsa, jalapenos, and mustard all mixed together), and grilling hot dogs.  People formed a long line and we handed out the plates topped with two hot dogs, oranges and chips.  A lot of people asked for a bag which they filled with 2-5 plates to take home for their families. We handed out 370 plates (740 hot dogs and buns) total then drove back to the church to clean up.

The view from the landfill

The Mobile Kitchen