Giovana Vitola werkt als journalist voor het Australische SBS en vertelt op de blog van het programma Dateline over haar persoonlijke ervaringen met het filmen van de giftige e-waste vulnisbelt in Ghana. We laten die blog hier ongewijzigd volgen, aangevuld met de film die ze daarbij maakte. Om aan te geven dat het geen geisoleerd verschijnsel is, laten we de SBS-film volgen door een film van het Engelse Journeyman Pictures over een Chinese ‘dump’.
‘That day, the first thing I saw was the smoke. A massive, powerful black smoke crossing through the largest food market in Accra, smothering and poisoning everything around it, including the vegetables and fruit that would later be consumed by those people. I also saw kids as young as five ‘playing’ amidst all that smoke from the burning waste. They were scavenging for copper and wires in the largest e-waste graveyard in Africa, while inhaling the toxic fumes and chemicals. … While interviewing a shoe seller, the black chemical smoke came straight into my face. I had to flee as quickly as possible but also had to show – or at least try – what was happening to me at that particular moment. So without thinking much, I turned the camera to my face and said what I was feeling and what had just happened. I felt a bit sick and couldn’t breath very well, and when I got home I was told to throw away all of my clothes and wash myself really well… even though we’d just spent a few hours there’.
