A group of Venezuelan migrants in Priorato, Ecuador, have established RECIPRI, a recycling association, to address the challenges of socio-labor integration. Juan Ramírez, a former merchant from Venezuela, now leads RECIPRI, demonstrating the resilience and resourcefulness of Venezuelan migrants seeking a new life in Ecuador.
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Juan is 48 years old, and according to the inter-agency coordination platform for Venezuelan refugees and migrants , he is part of the nearly 445,000 Venezuelans who arrived in Ecuador seeking peace. However, in recent years, almost nothing has been left of the once-called “island of peace.” For Juan, recycling represents something better than a regular job, but he acknowledges that they need more support from people. In his words, he came to Ecuador “to work and strive.”
According to Statista, two million people in Latin America are base recyclers, meaning they collect and separate waste. Thanks to their work, they prevent the emission of tons of greenhouse gasses and contribute to society socially, economically, and environmentally. In most municipalities and cities in Ecuador, there are rubbish containers, usually mistreated by how people use them, such as keeping the lids open with sticks, which damages the mechanism of the levers holding the heavy lids. Although the containers are intended for collecting trash, there are always plastic, paper, organic waste, cigarette butts, and beer bottles around them.
Along with Mariélyth, there are currently seven other people in the association. Besides sharing work in recycling, they also share the sadness of migrating from their country. They feel the void of absence in their stomachs living in Ecuador, embraced by nostalgia and the weight of the distance from their loved ones, but with the conviction to keep moving forward.
In these dreams, she is accompanied by Willeyska Montilla, 26, from Aragua, who believes that Venezuelans have no borders. It took her a month to travel from Venezuela to Ecuador, and she is currently the administrator of RECIPRI. She has lived in Ecuador for three years. “I stayed in Ibarra because of the weather. I left Venezuela due to the economy and to provide better well-being for my children,” she says.
Becoming a recycler is difficult for some, but finding decent employment results in complex labor exploitation contexts. Migrant populations work in areas unrelated to their profession or training due to the needs they must cover and the problem of validating their university degrees in the country. María Rojas, another member of RECIPRI, entered the country via a trail: half walking and half by bus. The 40-year-old from Anzoátegui has been living in Ecuador for a year and a half and stayed because one of her daughters asked her to.
Yajaira Pérez, 50, also from Anzoátegui, has lived in Ecuador for a year and a half. “I spent five days walking from Colombia to Ecuador. I migrated for my niece, who brought me here to see her. I left my daughter with my grandchildren, whom I miss a lot. I miss my family, the beaches, the rivers, the fun, but the harsh situation there,” she reflects. For her, RECIPRI has become her family.
MIGRANTS VENEZUELA ECUADOR RECYCLING CIRCULAR ECONOMY
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