Like quicksand, poverty is hard to escape - the harder you fight, the worse it can get. In Skopje, some work hard scouring the city for "treasures." They are bottle collectors, spending the day in search of recyclable plastic which they can sell for a subsistence income.

Hamzy Ramadan, 43, survives by collecting plastic bottles with his son. He and a few of his close friends live above a bridge in the centre of Skopje. The location is very strategic to them, because it is close to the large "Aerodrom" settlement.



They work in shifts. While Ramadan and his son collect bottles, the rest stay under the bridge and guard their haul from the officials who want to dislodge them. They also protect their treasures from the other bottle collectors who often steal their goods.



"It is like home, here we have a 'house' with a roof, but without walls," Hamzy says.



They sleep on dirty old mattresses, surrounded by carton boxes and old furniture. "It is a very good location, we have a lot of room to store the plastic," Hamzy explains cheerfully. Once a week, a truck comes to pick up the bottles and the driver pays them right away.



"One large bag with approximately 150 bottles is [worth] about [1.35 euros]. In the summer months, if we work hard we can find bottles for one and a half bags [a day]."



Winters are a challenge. "Not because we are afraid of the constant wind that blows under the bridge. That is just one of our worries. At this time of the year, it is very cold and people in winter drink fewer soft drinks. So we will find fewer plastic bottles. That means less money for us and our families and it is harder to survive."



Although the group lives in extreme poverty, they are proud that they choose to work instead of begging for money. "The money that we earn by collecting plastic bottles is not a lot, but it is enough to keep our families fed and safe," Hamzy says. "I do not allow my children to be out in the streets begging for money."



It's not an easy life, they say, but it is the only life they know. They're always struggling with the weather, with other people's indifference or contempt, and with officials who give them a hard time. They try to become invisible.



The group changes change locations every few months. They move around the city to find safe place under bridges or ruined houses, because these are the only places where they can be protected and still collect their bottles.



"Of course this is not the best life I can provide for them, but it is better than being hungry on the streets."

The photos in this essay received the UN's 2009 award for excellence in photography on the topic of poverty.

*This text and photographs are courtesy of the Southeast European Times (SET), a web site sponsored by the US Department of Defense in support of UN Resolution 1244, designed to provide an international audience with a portal to a broad range of information about Southeastern Europe. It highlights movement toward greater regional stability and steps governments take toward integration into European institutions. SET also focuses on developments that hinder both terrorist activity and support for terrorism in the region.

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