Collaboration And Mutual Care
Maputo, Mozambique - Isaura Matola (pictured above), a widow and mother of four, wakes up every day at 5 a.m., before sunrise, to begin collecting recyclable waste at the Hulene landfill on the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital.
After losing her job as a domestic worker in 2023, Matola faced unsuccessful attempts to secure other employment. Waste sorting at the landfill became her only viable option.
“With what I earn here, even though it is not much, I manage the basics to live. It’s different from doing nothing,” she says, while separating plastic, paper, and metal from large piles of rubbish. “At least my children are able to go to school.”