There is a new independent film being released about the Zabaleen or people who sort and organize the trash in Cairo. The people comprise a whole community, hence the name Garbage City. I highly recommend trying to see the film, and you can find more information at www.garbagedreams.com The movie will show you another side of Egypt and in my opinion it will be really interesting because the people are facing new problems. After the outbreak of the Swine Flu, the Egyptian government culled all the pigs in Egypt. Some people weren't upset because Egypt is predominately Muslim and pork is forbidden in Islam. However, the slaughter of all the pigs caused lots of problems for the Zabaleen because they use the pigs to eat up all the excess trash, and now without the pigs, trash is quickly accumulating. I dont know much about the Zabaleen community because they are on the outskirts of Cairo, but there is a man who worked at an NGO that installed solar water heaters for the residents in Garbage City. Apparently he is guiding tours to show the newly installed heaters and give people a chance to witness life inside Garbage City. I am hoping to be able to take that tour in a couple weeks. Then I will know more information and will be able to show you pictures.
In the mean time check out this link:
http://bikyamasr.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/bm-news-egypts-garbage-city-in-photos/
It contains some photos and a brief summary of the city.
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