Once school is done for the day, 10-year-old Imradul Ali rushes home to change out of his uniform so he can start his job as a scavenger in India’s remote northeast.
Armed with a gunny bag, he goes to a landfill in the slums of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state. Here, he hunts through heaps of other people’s garbage, searching for plastic bottles, glass or anything salvageable he can recycle or sell. Around him, cows graze on the mountains of waste that line the site.
Ali comes from a family of scavengers, or “rag pickers” — his father, mother and elder brother all earn their income through it. He started doing it over a year ago to help his family make more money.
![Imradul Ali, 10, looks for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, February 4, 2021. Photo: AP Via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, looks for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, February 4, 2021. Photo: AP Via RSS
![Imradul Ali, 10, left, wears a shirt as his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, pours hair oil on his head as he prepares to leave for school, in their rented room on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Friday, February 5, 2021. Photo: AP via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, left, wears a shirt as his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, pours hair oil on his head as he prepares to leave for school, in their rented room on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Friday, February 5, 2021. Photo: AP via RSS
![Imradul Ali, 10, blows a balloon which salvaged from a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, February 4, 2021. Photo: AP Via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, blows a balloon which salvaged from a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, February 4, 2021. Photo: AP Via RSS
![Imradul Ali, 10, center, looks for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, February. 4, 2021
Photo: AP Via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, center, looks for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, February. 4, 2021
Photo: AP Via RSS
![Imradul Ali, 10, left, and his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, take a break as they look for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, Febreuary 4, 2021. Photo: Ap Via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, left, and his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, take a break as they look for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, Febreuary 4, 2021. Photo: Ap Via RSS
![Imradul Ali, 10, left, and his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, arrive to look for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, Febreuary 4, 2021. Photo: AP Via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, left, and his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, arrive to look for recyclable material at a landfill on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Thursday, Febreuary 4, 2021. Photo: AP Via RSS
![Imradul Ali, 10, left, wears a shirt as his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, pours hair oil on his head as he prepares to leave for school, in their rented room on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Friday, February 5, 2021. Photo: AP via RSS]()
Imradul Ali, 10, left, wears a shirt as his mother Anuwara Beghum, 30, pours hair oil on his head as he prepares to leave for school, in their rented room on the outskirts of Gauhati, India, Friday, February 5, 2021. Photo: AP via RSS
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