The Gleaners of La Digue,
Paul Kelly

The Gleaners of La Digue,
Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly is a commercial and social documentary photographer working
 and living in Dublin’s East Wall. This exhibition is one in a series from Paul highlighting issues of global inequality. It focuses on everyday life at La Digue, one of many municipal dumps in ‘Tana’ or Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.

La Digue is home to hundreds of poor who make their meagre living by gleaning through the refuse of the city. As each lorry arrives at the dump, it is boarded
by families who swiftly work through the waste. Recyclables are separated 
and prepared for resale, anything edible is eaten on the spot and other organic remains are converted into compost which is also sold. Nothing is wasted.

This show aims to raise funds to directly support people of La Digue while also promoting recycling awareness. The children of La Digue are only a short step away from a future outside of the dump. A child’s schooling for one year can be sponsored for as little as €140.

The work in this exhibition was captured in early April and is supported by the Robert and Kezia Stanley Chapman trust. The project was organised in conjunction with equality activists Bernard and Marie Neary who have plans underway to set up a formal aid organisation by 2015.

For more information about Madagascar, including volunteer programmes and how to make a donation, please visit www.moneyformadagascar.org. For details of other development work by Paul, please visit www.paulkellyphotographer.com