The closest contact most of us have with garbage is when we throw it out. And while you may think that when your garbage reaches the dump that is the end of the story – it is not. In fact that's when the work begins for the human scavengers who live at the dumpsite. You heard correctly – there are people who call the Belize City dumpsite at mile 4 home! Tonight as part of our 7 on the inside series – Keith Swift and cameraman Alex Ellis will take you inside what we call the dump and what its residents call "The Jungle."

Keith Swift Reporting,
This is where all the garbage you throw away ends up, this is the Belize City Dump. It is supposed to be ‘no man's land' but it is not. There are men and at least one woman who work, eat, and live here. They call it "The Jungle" and they live alongside the venue of vultures.

37 year old Kempton Garbutt is one of them. He really wants to be a musician but right now this shed made out of two old refrigerators is where he sleeps and apparently plays chess. This is what Kempton does everyday single day – search: rummaging, ripping open plastic bags, and digging through piles of your garbage for anything of value.

Kempton Garbutt, Lives at Dump
"It is a little bit rough but sometimes the stuff that people throw away, they throw away zinc, boards, they throw away fish – everything they throw away you can find up here."

Keith Swift,
Who do you live here with?

Kempton Garbutt,
"Just me one and my friends but they go home and thing."

Keith Swift,
How do you live here?

Kempton Garbutt,
"Man it is rough, it is rough. The dangerous part is because you can catch a lot of germs. If you get cut by something you can get infected and it is dangerous too because of the inhalants but it is better than doing nothing in the city. There is nothing for us to do and we don't want to steal so we want to try to be something and make an honest living; stay alive."

Keith Swift,
What made you decide to move here?

Kempton Garbutt,
"Well because like I said the city is rough and I don't want to go to jail and I want to be around my son, I want to help him make a better life. So I just came up here because up here you find all kinds of stuff. All kinds of stuff you can sell and make money. The rest of guys down there don't have to rob and steal nobody, they can come up here and find stuff and survive."

Garbutt has been "surviving" at the garbage dump for seven months. That's a relatively short time when you compare it to the ten years 56 year old Rose Fitzgibbon claims she's been living in the jungle.

Rose Fitzgibbon, Lives at the Garbage Dump
"I came to camp out here about quite a while now, going over ten years. After losing certain things where I lived, I got permission that I can work and camp out."

Keith Swift,
So you live here?

Rose Fitzgibbon,
"Yes sir it is camp out and that is like living too."

Keith Swift,
What is it like?

Rose Fitzgibbon,
"Well it is hard but it is fair because you work for it so you don't mind."

And that's why Fitzgibbon says after she fled her home because of a messy divorce – she made the deliberate choice to live in "the jungle."

Keith Swift,
What is the first thing you do when you get up?

Rose Fitzgibbon,
"Well as we done drink tea sometimes we get up and we do our work and just pick up our pints and sell to the people. Sometimes we take them to our relatives on Victoria Street but sometimes we don't and sometimes I sleep there for a day."

Keith Swift,
You have any kids?

Rose Fitzgibbon,
"Yes I have one son."

Keith Swift,
Why don't you live with your son?

Rose Fitzgibbon,
"Well Mister my son is married and I cannot run his show in his own home and sometimes I make more money than right here. Most of the time I can give him a $10 or a $50 and he can't all the time. It is very rare when he can hand me money because he has a wife and family."

If you think Kempton and Rose are crazy to be living and working in the jungle – that is because you haven't met this man who told us his name is Rudolph Anthony Davis. We met him lounging in this old minivan swarming withflies and sitting in a swamp of garbage. He says he doesn't live here – he was just visiting.

Keith Swift,
Mr. Davis how old are you?

Rudolph Anthony Davis, Lounging
"22."

Keith Swift,
You're not 22 but what are you doing behind here?

Rudolph Anthony Davis,
"I just came into the jungle here to spend a little time but I don't live here."

Keith Swift,
Why are you here?

Rudolph Anthony Davis,
"Just taking a little walk until I could do better and then I will go to my right home."

Not everyone who works in ‘The Jungle' lives here. There are undercover workers who leave their homes and families behind in the city. One worker who asked to not show his face says it is as close as they can get to an honest living.

Voice of Undercover Jungle Worker,
"Well I just came back here to make a little money, some hustling. Back here is where we make our daily bread everyday."

Keith Swift,
When do you get here everyday?

Voice of Undercover Jungle Worker
"Sometimes about 5, sometimes maybe 8 or 9 o'clock when things are coming in until about five in the evening again."

Keith Swift,
What do you do all day?

Voice of Undercover Jungle Worker
"Well we search, we hustle, and we make slighters money on the different side. I got my regular house in Belize and everything but right here is a spot that keeps everyone out of trouble, you make a little money and sometimes you get little things that you can take to your yard and thing."

Keith Swift,
Some people would say this is just nasty.

Voice of Undercover Jungle Worker
"Yeah but some people have nice jobs, some people have nice things, and people have nice money but people like we, we have no job. This is our regular job like a job we do everyday."

Keith Swift,
Do you see yourself staying here much longer?

Kempton Garbutt,
"I don't want to stay. I am a musician too. I got my CD out, my album, my CD but right now they don't promote us. Music, we want to sing music but they don't have any thing for inspirational youths on a whole so I see myself here for a little time until maybe something better."

And until better comes along Kempton, Rose, Rudolph will continue doing what they do at dump – adding new meaning to the phrase that one man's garbage is another man's – in this case woman's --- treasure.

There are about 7 people living at the dump and about a dozen that work in the area. The dump is managed by the City Council. Stay tuned in two weeks for another edition of "7 On The Inside." Remember if you have any suggestions on where you want us to go on the inside of – you can email them at tvseven@btl.net.