Waste not, want not in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa - With a tattered bag on his back, Dereje Enigdamekonen trawled the endless alleyways of the Merkato market in Addis Ababa, calling for the Ethiopian capital's abundant scrap.

"Korale, korale," he shouted at regular intervals.

It's a made-up word in Amharic that is now used for the thousands of collectors, almost all men, who hunt out everything from used jerry cans and electrical equipment to shoes, shovels and any other unwanted bric-a-brac.

These objects are then elther restored, stripped for spare parts, or transformed into something new giving new life to what would otherwise be polluting litter.

Enigdamekonen, 45, has been doing this work for a year, rain or shine, saying he buys "everything that can be reused".