I started working as a waste picker when I was 7 years old. I would go out each morning, with my mother, brothers, cousins and neighbors, to collect recyclables from the streets to make our living. Thanks to my family, I worked in the morning and went to school at night. Our struggle was hard. But we worked with humilty, on a path towards a more just and caring society. Without hoping for anything more than the well-being and a dignified life for the millions of poor people around the world. Under the direction of my workers’ union, comprised of more than 15 million people around the world. I have remained committed to this ethical path and I rejoice in the fact that the conditions have slowly improved, allowing us to ensure that we have bread on the table and our children are in school.
We are grateful to the Constitutional Court of Colombia and its judges, who now understand that the law can change the world. To the mayor of Bogotá and his advisors – thank you for nobly agreeing for the first time ever, to pay the recyclers, recognized as legitimate workers in the city’s sanitation program. Lastly, to the families of recyclers around the world – you have my affection and my admiration. From you I see the kindness and the honesty that we need more than anything else so that this humble trade is accepted and defended as alternative form of work and life. (note: there is a mistake in the translation around 1:40 in which she says “15 million waste pickers around the world” but the translation incorrectly says “1.5 million”)
Imagem do artigo sobre a Nohra Padilla produzida pelo Prêmio Goldman.
No San Francisco Opera House, onde os Prêmios Goldman foram entregues. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.
Apoiadores, militantes, e líderes: Silvio Ruiz Grisales, Nelly Mogollon, Federico Parra, Lucia Fernandez, e Manuel Rosaldo.Apoiadores de gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos urbanos: Christie Keith de GAIA, Manuel Rosaldo de Berkeley, Silvio Ruiz Grisales de ANR Colombia, Federico Parra e Lucia Fernandez de WIEGO, Nelly Mogollon da prefeitura de Bogotá.Nohra Padilla with supporters: Federico Parra and Lucia Fernandez from WIEGO, and Manuel Rosaldo, a PhD student who is studying waste pickers’ organizations in Latinamerica.Silvio Ruiz Grisales, Colombia, sorrindo com a vitória. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.
Nelly Mogollon, a secretaria do ministerio de saneamento básico de Bogotá, Colombia, com Nohra Padilla, ganhadora do Prêmio Goldman Prize. Mogollon acompanhou a Nohra a San Francisco para aprender sobre o program de Lixo Zero da cidade. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.
A sala de recepção no San Francisco Opera House. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.
A audiência durante a cerimônia do Prêmio Goldman. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.Nohra Padilla with outros ganhadores do Prêmio Goldman. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.O galpão do “Recology,” programa de coleta seletiva de San Francisco. Nohra Padilla e apoiadores visitaram o programa de Lixo Zero de San Francisco. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.Um trabalhador do program municipal Recology mostrando as chaves que usa para fazer a coleta pela cidade. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.Um caminhão do programa de coleta seletiva da cidade de San Francisco, Califórnia. Foto: Lucia Fernandez.
Nohra Padilla and other Goldman Environmental Prize winners meet President Barack Obama at the White House. Photo credit: Goldman Prize.
Nohra Padilla and other Goldman Environmental Prize winners meet President Barack Obama at the White House. Photo credit: Goldman Prize.
Nohra Padilla and other Goldman Environmental Prize winners meet President Barack Obama at the White House. Photo credit: Goldman Prize.
Nohra Padilla and other Goldman Environmental Prize winners meet President Barack Obama at the White House. Photo credit: Goldman Prize.
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