The career of garbage collector in Brazil is not very rewarding. With salary at the house of R $ 2,000 (with the unhealthy complement), 40 hours per week of work and the need to get heavy all the time, the profession is hallmark and exposes the worker to climate rigors and other risks – cacos of glass are not uncommon.
Covers earn better, albeit in 44 hours weekly hours: about $ 2,500.
But it is not so bad to be a collector in Sweden, where salaries are not discrepant to those of other careers, such as journalist, for example.
If there is any competitive advantage in being a garbage collector in Brazil, it is the fitness gain. Several collectors who participate in races win them. Cases of Bahian Renilson Vitorino da Silva, 38, two -time champion of the SP City marathon and winner of the Brasilia marathon played on the 21st; and Ivanildo Dias de Souza, 45, Champion of the Independence Trophy, U-30 at 10km and creator and sponsor of a race that bears his name in his Christmas village, Lagoa do Meio, Monte Santo, Bahia.
There are those, few, who left the profession to embrace the high performance. Case of miner Johnatas de Oliveira Cruz, 34, discovered and cut by Fran Kauê, not by chance coach of Renilson and Vitorino.
The most famous case is Paulista Solonei Silva, former Olympic athlete and today physical educator, gold in the marathon in the Guadalajara Pan in 2011 and a member of the Brazilian team in the Rio Games marathon.
With a time of 2h12m45s, Johnatas Cruz won last Sunday (27) the NB Marathon of Porto Alegre, breaking the 42km event record of the 1994 state capital. In 2023, he made his personal record: 2h10m43s at the Hamburg Marathon (Germany).
To the column the athlete explained how to have been a garbage collector for ten years in São Paulo helps him on the track – he is also the best placed Brazilian in the last two editions of São Silvestre. 2024 arrived in fourth place:
“Garbage collection helped me build a stronger mind. In the rainy and cold days, at night, it was very difficult to endure work. But I learned there that I could go further.”
“And today, especially in the marathon, when you are in km 30, in 35, it’s a pain too, but a bearable pain. In garbage collection I understand that I could go further.”
Cruz was also a attendant and dreamed of being a soccer player. He even sieved in Corinthians and ABC teams. But in the end it is grateful for your work predicted.
“Thank you very much to have taken this collection journey from 2012 to 2022. The difficult to reconcile with training. It ended up resting little, the shift was from 18h to 2h in the morning, was five, six hours to sleep and go out to train.”
Considering the difficulties that a garbage collector in Brazil is going through, someone who can rarely invest in surpasses, nutritional supplements or even balanced meals is to think about what makes a difference in race for us amateurs.
This Sunday (4), in Anhangabaú, São Paulo, the Gari Race will gather some stars of athletics that live from collection in São Paulo. They dispute the registration for the next São Silvestre, which this year celebrates 100 years. Few evidence could be more inspiring.
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