Constant plumes of smoke as seen in the Koshe landfill. In sites like this that don’t cover their waste, decomposing biological materials creates an abundance of heat which leads to spontaneous combustion.

The smoldering fires and resulting smoke make breathing difficult for the roughly 300 people who attempt to work & live here.

"Pickers" searching for materials to resell as the eek out a living at the Koshe Landfill site. Each picker specializes in metal, foam or PVC pipe that they'll later resell. Most make less than $1 per day, having few other options for work.

Tesfaye Belayne, 80 years old, was a soldier for the Ethiopian dictator Mengistu. After the leader fled the country on charges of genocide, the army went without work.

Tesfaye ended up here, making roughly 10 Birr a day (less than 50 cents usd) collecting foam, which allows him to purchase a single meal each day. Pictured here in his home,  made inside of an upside down garbage dumpster.

Goat Skull

One of many makeshift homes

Liya Getachew, 26, sifts through rubbish in search of small metal items that she can resell. Each picker generally specializes in a material with the majority of women choosing metal as it requires a certain level of meticulousness. She started working in the Koshe site when she was 14 and now must support her 3 children “picking”

Western countries often sell E-waste to Africa, China & India.

Spontaneous combustion of decomposing biological waste creates fire and smoke