A Load Of Rubbish

‘WHEN cinema emerged as a form of popular entertainment in the early part of the 20th century, the old vaudeville players found themselves performing before dwindling audiences.

Victoria managed to find three copies of her latest album among the rubbish

Conjurers and illusionists either packed up their acts completely or took them to remote parts of the world where the locals were ignorant of cinema’s existence.

And something about Victoria Beckham’s trip to the slums of Peru reminds us of the route trod by those acts of a bygone era.

Where else but amid the desperately poor who eke out a subsistence living looking through other people’s rubbish can Posh appear as a singer of international repute?

But there’s no need to listen to our thoughts because the Mirror’s story of how Vicky went to the outskirts of Lima for two days as part of a Sport Relief campaign comes in her own words.

‘Been talking to Mum,’ writes Vicky, ‘and she has lots of helpful tips like taking pencils and crayons as presents rather than felt tips that dry out in the sun.’

Invaluable stuff that gets gilt-edged as Posh tells us how ‘the kids in Peru have nothing…I’ll see families who have absolutely nothing’.

No, not nothing Posh, crayons. And darn fine, non-drying out ones at that.

And the desperate should take care not to confuse their new crayons with the rubbish they forage for each day.

And neither should Posh, who joins in the daily scramble in the dirt and for four hours sifts through the rubbish dump with a knife.

And she finds ‘there are lots of kinds of rubbish here’ – on the rubbish dump.

‘Here I stand in a patch of syringes, intravenous drips, soiled incontinence pads and used dressings. It’s truly awful. Dinah [the 11-year-old girl with crayons] soldiers on in her flip-flops.

‘I ask if she’s worried. ‘No,’ she says. She amazes me.’

And upsets her, because the poverty soon gets to Posh who ‘loses it’.

‘I feel so sad and helpless, yet I really want to help,’ says she.

‘People shouldn’t have to live like this. I’m finding that everything I’ve seen and experienced is taking its toll on me – as it would any mum.

‘Although I’m tearful, I feel like I should be strong, like the people who live there.’

But don’t worry about Posh falling into a state of despair and losing sleep because she has reached the comforting conclusion that ‘despite the poverty here, I do get a sense that people are having a go and are happy’.

And why would they not be? They’ve just met with a Spice Girl, a member of the world’s biggest act. And if that wasn’t wonderful enough, they’ve got crayons…’

Posted: 21st, June 2004 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink