Forgotten Children

• Photographer
  Saul Martinez

In Guatemala, the bodies of babies are placed in a common grave after their relatives could not or forgot to pay the cemetery fee. Failure to do so results in exhumed coffins, which are then opened, the decomposed remains taken out and later placed in a common grave to make room for the burial of other babies. Due to Guatemala’s high levels of violence, it has created a demand for new burial spaces. Almost none of the relatives pay the fees and over 4,000 bodies are exhumed annually.