Migrant Recyclers

Today I decided to recycle some of the bottles I'd saved up from various parties over the past month. I get 0.2 RMB (or about $.02) for each 2 liter or 1 liter bottle and 0.1 RMB (about $.01) for each 600ml or similar size bottle. After living in Michigan for three years before moving to China, I had gotten in the habbit of recycling my bottles. Of course, in Michigan, you get $0.10 per bottle! (And in Kentucky you get nothing.) Here is a photo of me and the woman who came to pick them up:



For this stack, I got about 25 RMB (about $3). Doesn't sound like much, but when you can buy lunch in the student dining hall for 3 RMB ($0.37), you can make that money go along way. Anyway, I want to comment a little bit about this young woman. She is my age and has 3 children. Her family lives in Anhui province but it is difficult for her to find a good paying job there. So she came to Tianjin as a migrant worker. She collects bottles for $.01 and gets paid $.02 when she turns them into the recycling center. And she makes more money by doing that than in her home province. How sad. Actually, the money is not as bad as you might think. She made about $3 off of me in about 45 minutes. If she can find 8 customers each day, she could make about 200 RMB per day (or about $25). Assuming she works 30 days per month (and believe me, I've seen these migrants out working every day), then she can earn 6,000 RMB per month! For comparison, a new college graduate from TFSU makes about 1,700 RMB per month. So perhaps I've overestimated her earning potential, but it isn't as bad as it sounds at first. Still, to have to leave one's family behind is sad. She is a very friendly person and even has business cards! Please keep her and others around the world who have to work so hard to provide for their families in prayer. Seeing her at work makes me realize how much God has blessed me. It is a shame how often I forget to thank him for all He's provided. (Remember James 1:17)