Sensations English Logo
LEVEL B1

Shadowing the newsreader

Listen to the newsreader read out each line and then practise saying it. Record your own voice line by line and submit your voiceover.

Hide View

On this kilometre of road in Manila, The Philippines, hundreds of workers can be found.

They break up old electronic products, like laptops.

They work with electronic waste, or 'e-waste'.

They're known as 'mambabaklas'.

To make money, they hunt for different metals, such as aluminium or copper.

But their work's extremely unsafe.

They often burn away rubber, so they breathe in chemicals like mercury.

They can get various health problems, like breathing issues and even cancer.

Children are also in danger.

Rosana Milan's a local doctor.

This man, Dexter Barsigan, has spent 13 years earning money by removing metal from e-waste.

But his hands began hurting three years ago, and his eyesight started to get worse.

Some days, he just watches his wife and nephew do his work.

The Philippines is one of the top producers of e-waste in Southeast Asia.

It produces 40 million kilogrammes of waste a year.

The mambabaklas don't have any training or protective clothing.

The organisation Medicins du Monde is trying to help.

It's providing workers with gloves, masks and advice.

Eva Lecat's from the organisation.

She realises that food for the family comes first.

REGISTER NOW

Get videos, articles, games and study tools!

Learn at six levels from A1 to C1
Or sign up with your Email
By clicking “Sign Up” above you are accepting our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign in

Sign up with email

Enter the following information to create your account.
All sign up options

Log in Or create an account

or

Forgot password?

reset password or login

Crop Image

Crop preview
Add to homescreen