Since 2005, M.A.I.S. has been collaborating, together with the Ngo ISCOS (Istituto Sindacale per la Cooperazione e lo Sviluppo), the ILO (International Labour Office), and since 2009, also with Arai (Agenzia della Regione Piemonte per le Adozioni Internazionali – Regional Agency for international adoption) for the fight against child labour in the Zone 3 Guatemala City garbage dump, which is the biggest one in Central America. Every day, in the garbage dump, hundreds of guajeros - word that in Guatemala means the garbage workers at the lowest level working in the dump - collect all kinds of recycling materials (plastic, metal, glass, cardboard, aluminium), in order to sell them to the middlemen who, in turn, sell the materials to medium and small enterprises dealing with processing and recycling.
All this allowed the creation of an informal economy, on which several families who live in the landfill site make their living. The majority of the people there, reside along the perimeter of the garbage dump, squatting in shacks with no running water and in unhealthy and poor sanitation conditions: the area is very polluted and toxic because of the waste in the dump, where tons of garbage are dumped daily, including toxic waste. Public basic services are almost absent and the guajeros community has no basic rights, least of all labours’ rights.
M.A.I.S., with the project  “Supporting children and adolescents for contributing to the eradication of child labour in the Zone 3 Guatemala City garbage dump”, operates with the aim of eradicating child labour in the dump, through the implementation of various actions, such as: information and awareness of the educative community; IT courses and professional training organisation for the adolescents and young people living in the landfill; reintegration of children into schools; support and monitoring of a network of institutions, created with the aim of better coordinating the services offered by both public and private bodies of Zone 3.

In collaboration with the municipality of Guatemala, urban vegetable gardens have been created, where young people have the possibility to get trained and work also for municipal garden centres. Training courses have been planned also for adults and, in collaboration with the municipality, a front office helping job seekers and employers to meet has been opened.

Ours projects:
Buen vivir
On nature’s side, on mankind’s side