Introduction
A dump truck backs into an open pit piled high with garbage. It beeps when thrown into reverse and the shrill sound summons a throng of women. They jostle around the stinking load, sifting through it with rakes and their bare hands.

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"The stench was so bad I nearly got back in my car and drove away," said one CARE worker upon his first visit to the dump, located outside of Cuenca, Ecuador's third largest city. Fortunately, CARE's local staff overlooked the smell and, after fighting many barriers, in 1998 organized 150 of the dump's pickers into a cooperative. Early on, their efforts focussed on establishing ways of retrieving recyclables more efficiently. Under CARE's guidance, pickers who used to fight over territory and debris now work together in a streamlined process to maximize the "harvest."

Next, CARE devised a program that taught the women-some of whom had picked through garbage for 16 years-how to create handmade paper by making a pulp from clean refuse. They use ordinary kitchen blenders to make the pulp, which they press into sheets, sun-dry, then cut into cards and envelopes. The paper is then adorned with wildflowers from Andean meadows.

If you would like to make a donation to the Ecuadorian recycling project, please contact CARE directly at 212 686 3110.