Surviving the dump in Haiti - in pictures

Plumes of smoke fill the air as rubbish burns at Cite Soleil's landfill site in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation

Changlair Aristide walks across the Truitier landfill wearing his soccer uniform after a day of scavenging for useful items to use or sell. AP Photo

Mr Aristide, a 36-year-old trash scavenger, uses sand paper to smoothen the metal rod he uses to pick through the rubble. AP Photo

He jokes with a friend as his wife Violene Mareus braids their 9-year-old daughter Changline's hair outside their home near the Truitier landfill. AP Photo

Guerdy Joseph, a 24-year-old trash scavenger, rests in his protective clothing, including a Christmas costume hat that he found in the trash, at the end of his work day at the Truitier landfill. AP Photo

A resident feeds his pigs on the edge of the Truitier landfill. AP Photo

Cattle rummage near people scavenging the Truitier landfill. AP Photo

People who scavenge the trash for valuables use headlamps at night as a truck prepares to dump its load. AP Photo

Trash scavengers run through the smoke of burning trash. AP Photo

Trash scavengers work with headlamps as they look for useful items. AP Photo

Scavengers climb on a trash truck arriving to unload at the Truitier landfill. AP Photo

Changlair Aristide makes his living in a smouldering, hellish landscape - the stinking refuse of an impoverished land.

Like thousands of others, the father-of-nine survives by hunting for anything left of value in the Truitier landfill north of Cite Soleil, a notorious slum near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince.

Bin lorries roar 24 hours a day, leaving 100,000 tonnes of waste each month across 200 acres. Pickers frequently fight for the most valuable hauls.

Desperation and misery dull any sense of optimism.

"It's a hell on earth," said Aristide, 36, who has been sorting through waste since 1994 and originally saw the work as a way to get rich in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

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