Koshe | ቆሼ
People in Addis Ababa usually call the place where trash is dumped "Koshie." It is in the Kolfe Keranio Sub city, which is in the western part of the city. Not only does it hold junk, but it also people. Some people in our society use Koshie as a place to live, work, and have fun. For this group of people, finding life in the rubble of Addis Ababa is something they do every day.
In Koshie, the junk hunters who have made their homes there have work every day because they scavenge. The fact that they are smart doesn't mean they can't claim their fair share of the country's natural riches. Even though they are in good shape, they are not mentally ready to change the way their life is going. That's the most important thing. This is the main thing that keeps them digging through trash all their lives, even though they are fit enough to make money somewhere else in the economy.
Around noon in late December 2011, I went to the area and saw a lot of people rushing to find their "daily luck leftovers." These items had been brought from all over the city by the Addis Ababa Waste Recycling and Reuse Office.
When you're standing in the middle of all the useless things that are a way of life for some, you're hit right away by two things: a bad smell that turns your head upside down, and the idea that your life is like that of junk collectors, which makes you think about what life is all about.
The hot sun and the methane gas that is being made under the trash are to blame for the creepy smoke coming from the trash area. Even though it happens naturally, the smoke from the burning trash makes it look like someone is lighting a fire and directing it toward the ring road that goes through the area.
You can find people digging through trash hills in the area to find plastic bags, scrap metal, and other kinds of trash. Some diggers are looking for food, and others are sound asleep.
The 32-hectare-wide dump was made in 1965. It has been feeding the growing number of people in Addis Ababa since then.
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