Burning Kilimanjaro

BURNING KILIMANJARO | The so called “Kilimanjaro” is one of the burning areas in the scrap yard of Agbogbloshie. The area was renamed after the highest mountain in the continent and also, as a symbol of the difficulties that workers have to overcome every day. New generations of young men and women have migrated from the North of Ghana to Accra seeking for a better future. Lack of appropriate education, money deficiency, unfortunate circumstances or simply the urgency of an easy and quick income, led them to work in the Agbogbloshie junkyard. The field is also known for being one of the biggest electronic waste dumps in the world and many workers make a living from burning cables, wires and other appliances, in order to extract raw materials like copper, aluminum and iron. The daily earnings are very little as workers are paid in tips. Health and safety regulations herein healthcare are currently nonexistent; children and young men are constantly exposed to hazardous jobs and, most of all, toxic emissions. Indeed, As a result of a failing disposal system, there are no decrees to protect either the environment or workers from pollution and poisonous fumes.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra, Sodom and Gomorrah. View of Sodom and Gomorrah from the "Kilimanjaro" burning area in the Agbogbloshie scrap yard. The slum sprang in the Korle Lagoon and filled up in the 80s as population started migrating from the Konkomba-Nanumba tribal conflict in the North of Ghana to Accra. The Odaw River divides the slum from the Agbogbloshie scrap yard.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. The bridge over the Odaw River just outside the scrap yard, where merchants sell different kind of goods, starting from the first hours of the morning. In the background, the "Kilimanjaro" burning area.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra, Agbogbloshie. A worker leaving from one of the burning areas of the filed.
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. A worker leaving from one of the burning areas of the filed.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. The "Kilimanjaro" burning area is one of the areas in the scrap yard of Agbogbloshie where mainly wires and appliances are burnt in order to extract raw materials. This location was built by the local workers using a ship's wreck and it has become a meeting point, where they can find shelter from the sun and rest. It was renamed after the highest mountain in the continent and also, as a symbol of the difficulties that they have to overcome every day.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. A group of workers picking up metal scraps from the ground and two women passing by. Most women in the area work at the nearby market or as water sellers in the scrap yard.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. In the "Kilimanjaro"burning area, three workers are picking up metal scraps from the ground where they had previously burnt wires and appliances. The daily earnings are a few Ghanaian Cedis a day, 1GH₵ is the equivalent of £0,16.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra, Agbogbloshie. A tangle of cables and wires taken out of different appliances burning in the "Kilimanjaro" area.
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. A tangle of cables and wires taken out of different appliances burning in the "Kilimanjaro" area.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra. Agbogbloshie. A group of workers in the "Kilimanjaro" burning area burning wires and appliances.
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Accra. Agbogbloshie. A group of workers in the "Kilimanjaro" burning area burning wires and appliances.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra. Agbogbloshie. A group of workers in the "Kilimanjaro" burning area burning wires and appliances.
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Accra. Agbogbloshie. A group of workers in the "Kilimanjaro" burning area burning wires and appliances.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra. Agbogbloshie. Alouta (middle), one of the workers in the "Kilimanjaro" area, burning cables and appliances. Gaffarou (left) waiting for Alouta to finish before taking over. Gaffarou, 17 years old from the North of Ghana has become deaf when he was a child, he has never been diagnosed by a doctor and he can only lipread.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra, Agbogbloshie. A group of workers in the "Kilimanjaro" area picking up metal scraps from the ground.
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. A group of workers in the "Kilimanjaro" area picking up metal scraps from the ground.

© carolina rapezzi - Image from the Burning Kilimanjaro photography project
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. Gaffarou, 17 years old from the North of Ghana has become deaf when he was a child, he has never been diagnosed by a doctor and he can only lipread. His dream is to safe enough money in order to find a treatment that could make him hear and speak again.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra, Agbogbloshie. The Odaw River dividing the slum Sodom and Gomorrah from the scrap yard.
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. The Odaw River dividing the slum Sodom and Gomorrah from the scrap yard.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra, Agbogbloshie. Workers at the entrance of Sodom and Gomorrah slum.
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. Workers at the entrance of Sodom and Gomorrah slum.

© carolina rapezzi - Accra, Agbogbloshie. View of "Kilimanjaro" from Sodom and Gomorrah slum.
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Accra, Agbogbloshie. View of "Kilimanjaro" from Sodom and Gomorrah slum.

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