T-Shirt Travels 1x56

This investigation of the secondhand clothes business begins on the street in a Western city, where clothes are dropped off in charity bins, moved to a distributor who ships the clothes by the ton, and continue to Zambia where an importer then sells them to individual businesspeople. We meet Luka, who at nineteen years old must support his family by selling and trading the clothes in a remote part of western Zambia. Through his story we see how our old clothes become the backbone of Zambia’s growing informal economy and provide a livelihood for many. The program also explores how the dumping of old clothes and used goods is draining the potential of a continent rich in human and natural resources. We hear from villagers who sell secondhand clothes and from Africans who explain the challenges they face in a global economy.