Read on Twitter
1/ Sorry about the tease-tweet last night, but here’s the news about the beautiful thing that happened with #SCAVENGERS. There’s too much emotion to cram into a single tweet, so I’m afraid it’s a (relatively short) thread…
2/ When Scavengers was just the seed of an idea, I came across this piece in the Guardian about communities living on the Bantar Gebang dump in Jakarta, Indonesia. The photos – all taken by Javad Tizmaghz – made a HUGE impression on me… https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2011/sep/28/indonesia-landfill-mountain-scavengers-in-pictures
3/ It wasn’t just the setting, with all its atmosphere and everything it represents in terms of inequality, waste and greed. What really hit me was the children. I was deeply moved by the fact that, despite the circumstances they have to live in, they were still being kids…
4/ Javad’s photos capture how, while these children spend their days digging through trash to survive, they also play games, help each other and hang out. They use the balls they find to play cricket, and check filthy diggers for soft toys caught in their caterpillar tracks…
5/ To me, this says so much about childhood and community – about perseverance and humanity and darkness and light. Javad’s photos capture all of this brilliantly, and a lot of it fed directly Scavengers’ young protagonist, Landfill...
6/ Anyhow, I recently got in touch with Javad, and he was not only gracious and kind, but also good enough to offer to send a copy of Scavengers to the children living on Bantar Gebang...
7/ And when I told @Usborne this news, they said they’d send more copies of the book there (because Usborne are awesome - but you knew that already)...
8/ So long story short, copies of my novel will soon be in the hands of the very children who inspired it, all the way in Jakarta, Indonesia. Scavengers has gone full circle. That’s the beautiful thing that had me welling up last night...
9/ It’s strange. Scavengers has achieved many things that have made me feel proud, blessed, or just plain fluky. But this… This is something else.
If you made it to the end of this thread, well done you. Treat yourself to a biscuit, and stay safe.
If you made it to the end of this thread, well done you. Treat yourself to a biscuit, and stay safe.
