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The Waste Pickers of Dandora

The scavengers of Dandora — men, women, children, flesh-eating Marabou storks, and wild pigs — battle daily for the discarded waste generated by the people and businesses of Nairobi, Kenya. With a population of almost 4.5 million, Dandora, the 30-acre central dumping site for the city, appears to heave and groan as it releases fumes into the air, creating a toxic stew unparalleled on the continent.

As British photographer Sam Barker states after visiting the site, “Cartel gangs run things and operate as part of a fully functioning economic system serving some 3,000 local families in Dandora and the surrounding slums. With its own rules, system...

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