Chan Orun, forty-four, began working the dump more than ten years ago. Her husband, the father of five-year-old Mey Srey, left them for another woman. Chan has four children. All of them work in the dump every day. The older siblings work in the morning and go to school in the afternoon. They make about US$2 a day collecting plastic, bottles and cans:

     ‘We are too poor to do anything else. When the dump moves to the Killing Fields, we will move and continue to work in the garbage. We have no choice.’ I ask the young boy many questions but he just looks down at the garbage.

Hou Srei Toy, ten, is tiny, malnourished. She is the leader of her pack.

     ‘I come to the dump every day, from about 5am until 9am. Then I go home to help make food for my family. There’s eight people in my family, and all my brothers and sisters work. We live here, at the garbage site, and work every day. I’ve never been to school.’

Chan Srei, seven, and Chan Srei Yech, five, are best friends. Many people in the dump think they are brother and sister. Says the elder boy:

     ‘I come here to work in the garbage every day, from 6am until 5pm. I never go to school. Not ever. I work with my mother and father, and another brother. He’s fifteen, almost sixteen. We make about US$5 per day. We give it all to my parents. When I am older, I want to work in a factory, a clothes factory. I hear that people make good money in a factory. That’s what I want, to make money.’

Fifteen-year-old Pon Hout’s family came from Takeo, the famous silk-weaving area about an hour’s drive from Phnom Penh:

     ‘We came to Phnom Penh three years ago, to try and make money. I come to the garbage dump every day with my mother. There are nine people in my family and five of us work here every day with her. My father is home sick. He hit his head. I come at 7am and stay until twelve, then I go home and go to school again from 1pm to 5pm. My favourite subject is English. I really want to learn English so I can speak to foreigners and make money. But they don’t teach English at my school. I like sports, especially watching football on TV. I don’t know the names of the teams, I just like all of them.’

Meoun Srei Ma, fifteen, and her brother:

     ‘My family came to Phnom Penh five years ago, from the provinces, to make money. I come here to work, every day, all day. I come from six in the morning and stay until six at night. I never go to school. I want to go to school, to study, but there is no money for school. So, I have never been. When I am older, I would like to work in a beauty salon. Then I could make money and make myself beautiful everyday. My mother is very young. She is thirty-nine and my father is thirty-seven. They stay at home with my brothers and sisters. There are six children in my family. They send me and my brother, who is thirteen, here every day to work. We have to work. We make US$3 a day and give it all to my parents. We need money to eat. If I had an extra dollar right now, if I found a dollar, I’d give it to my parents to buy food for my family. If we had more money, we could make soup. That would be nice. When I am here working, I sometimes think of the city, and how nice it would be to go there, to the river and visit the Royal Palace. I’d like to see all the interesting things in the city, like other children, like I see on TV. But I cannot. I’ve never been to the city. I have to work.’

Von Sopheatra, ten, is a veteran. He uses a bent metal pole to stab for treasures. He wears Wellington-style boots he bought for 9,000 riels (about US$2):

     ‘I come to the dump every morning and study in the afternoon at public school. I come every day; from 5am to 10am. Sometimes I come with my parents, but not today. Today they are sick. I make about 6,000 or 7,000 riels a day. I give the money to my parents. I never find anything good. I’ve been working at the dump for a year and a half.’