Homeless Women in Rio de Janeiro Favela Pick Through Trash for Doll Parts to Recycle and Sell
The women's resourcefulness won’t lift them out of extreme poverty but it may help them eat another day.
Karen and Cristina are among the many thousands who live in Brazil’s favelas.
Favelas are impoverished urban districts that about 6% of Brazil’s massive population is estimated to call home, though many of the people there are homeless.
Many of its residents have to rely on unusual sources of income to pay for the most basic things.
Karen and Cristina pick through garbage in Rio de Janeiro to find old, discarded dolls.
Then they go to work on what they’ve salvaged by cleaning, transplanting, re-outfitting, remaking and recycling to find re-use in refuse.
Sometimes that means burning away the parts they don’t need.
They’ll recycle those doll parts into toys that they can sell to people in the neighborhood. If they’re lucky, they might get $5 a day for their efforts.
Their resourcefulness won’t lift them out of extreme poverty, but it may help them eat another day.
Related Stories
Trending on Inside Edition

Video of Topless High School Student Shared by Her Principal and Made Into Meme by Asst. Principal: Lawsuit
Crime
Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial: Former Neighbors Recall Happy Family, Doting Dad Always Playing With His Children
Crime
Thousands Claim Their New COVID-19 Booster Shot Appointment Was Canceled
Health
Oregon Mom Wanted Her Boyfriend to Come Over So She Filmed Herself Waterboarding Their Infant Son, Say Cops
Crime
Bryan Kohberger Trial: Kaylee Goncalves Fought Killer After Waking Up to Madison Mogen Murder, Say Parents
Crime
Las Vegas Family Claims They Saw 2 Aliens in Their Backyard
Human Interest