Zabbaleen: "The garbage people"

[DJKeefy]

phpBB [video]

[newcastle]

Very interesting little film. Thanks for posting

[Hafiz]

I wrote about this a long time ago. Can't find the post reference.

The Zabbaleen have attracted academic and NGO interest for decades. In the early days the Ford Foundation helped them. Recently the City Government in Cairo has gone for large scale garbage contracts with European multinationals and this has removed a deal of the Z's income. The contracts have proved disastrous for the multinationals - so both sides have lost out.

The central issue is that the land developers want their land for middle and Upper Middle class housing development and the Z's legal hold over the land is tenuous.

With the hounding out of NGO's the number of health and education programs and western political patronage will diminish. As I read it having NGO and western friends is the kiss of death at the moment.

I think their future is dark - never stand between an Egyptian property developer and a 20 Egyptian pound note.

Its arguable but likely that many have a background from Upper Egypt. Its also arguable but likely that they get little concrete support from the Coptic Church which in its charity work gives little emphasis to the very poor. For some Copts with 'aspirations' association with the wretched is too 'down-market'. At the moment the Coptic hierarchy is bending over backwards to please the government.

My guess, and its entirely a guess, is that their survival to date and their chances with the government and developers in the future will be reliant on the continued tight family based organization of the area and their stubborn refusal to move. They might also hope to get continued western media support - although I doubt that will change much in the minds of those with power.

[Horus]

Extremely interesting although depressing to see that people have to work in such conditions just to be able to feed themselves.

On a lighter note, maybe Dusak can go and visit and find himself a longer HDMI cable or a connector.

[Dusak]

I consider your responce Horus to be a load of rubbish.

[Horus]

I was only trying to be helpful
And who are you calling a 'Ponce' ?

[Winged Isis]

Their amazing church:

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/th ... cairo.html

[carrie]

Didn't they keep pigs at one time which rooted through the rubbish? When the swine flu was rife the authorities went and slaughtered them all. The pigs I mean.

[Major Thom]

For food Carrie??? Would not surprise me...

[Dusak]

I was only trying to be helpful
And who are you calling a 'Ponce' ?

[Hafiz]

Carrie - Yep their Pigs got slaughtered (or taken to the farms of connected persons and saved - its unclear). It seems that the whole swine fever hysterics was an overreaction and done against the specific scientific/medical advice of the FAO/WHO and the Z harbor a view that they were unfairly treated and that Muslim opposition to pig meat was not irrelevant to the government's overreaction. Announcements at the time said they would be compensated for the mandatory killings but I think its true that the payments were pitiful or worse. The destruction of their pig meat business hit them hard.

I've read, but doin't entirely believe it, that prior to the pig killings they ran a compost/soil type of business based on the pig waste and vegetable waste products and sold their end product to up-market gardens. At this stage, but I think not currently, they got a lot of attention and some funding from (probably) feckless western green/recycling NGO's. I think the Z have seen the front and the back of more NGO's that you and I have had hot breakfasts - although this was more true of the period 1985-2011.

They have/had a tourist products shop - give me a few days and I will try and track it down - if it is still in operation. At one stage (10 or more years ago) they had patronage from Naguib Sawaris's wife - but my suspicion is that the practical reality was a lot less than appeared in the media. As a general rule the Egyptian super-rich are ungenerous with their wealth and averse to dealing with the very poor.

[Who2]

Friday 1400hrs:
Just had some filemaker around called Sharrieff
nice guy, he was from Cairo spoke brill English saying he had just made a film about the Zabbaleen,
but cannot remember it's title, then I try not try to remember to much about my visitors.
But he was introduced to me by a well accepted author friend. So he must be cool....

[carrie]

How do you know that the Egyptian super rich are adverse to helping the poor Hafiz? Tendency here is to give charity in the dark, not to advertise the fact.
According to the doctors who visited Luxor some weeks ago with a mobile hospital a lot of the funding for this was from the rich Caireans and it wasn't just Luxor that they visited.

[Hafiz]

I said I would track down the shops which stock Z. products.

Here they are:

They do have retail outlets. The general information on the NGO (APE) which does the retail is: http://www.ape.org.eg/index.html

2 showrooms, one for rug weaving and patchwork products and one for paper crafts. These can be visited at the Moquattam site. For more information call (+202) 23412723.

Shop in Souk El Fustat in Old Cairo, where you can purchase a wide variety of A.P.E. products. For more information call (+2) 0129111937

Misr Touloun (I think they mean Ibn Tulun)
Located in front of the Ibn Touloun Mosque
Paper Crafts

World of Art
Aard El Golf, Maadi
Tel: 0122322337
Paper Crafts

Catacomb
Street 231- Building #3, Maadi Degla,
Tel: 251165285 or 0129833339
Paper Crafts

Community Services Association (CSA)
4 Road 21, Maadi Degla
Tel: 23580754
www.livinginegypt.org
Stuffed Animals and Paper Crafts

Bio Shop
27 Road 231, Maadi Degla
Tel: 25212103
Weaving and Patchwork

Fair Trade Egypt
27 Yehia Ibrahim St., Apt. 8, Zamalek
Tel: 27365123
www.fairtradeegypt.org
Weaving, Patchwork, and Paper Crafts

Diwan (a very up-market shop)
159 26th of July Street, Zamalek
Tel: 27362582/98
www.diwanegypt.com
Paper Crafts

Samir & Aly Stationary
25 Sherif Street, Downtown
Tel: 19891 or 23929435
www.samirandaly.com
Paper Crafts

Oum El Dounia
3 Talaat Harb, 1st Floor, Downtown
Tel: 23938273
Weaving and Paper Crafts

Bashayer
58Mussadek Street, Dokki
Tel: 33361006
Paper Crafts

Adam Book Store
Maadi Grand Mall

And for those on the coast who will soon suffer the Russian re-invasion:

Gouna
El Oscar El Montega, Abou Tig Marina
Weaving, Patchwork, Paper Crafts

Sharm El Sheikh
Aladin
Naama Bay, Sharm El Sheikh
Tel: 012092545
Patchwork, Weaving, and Paper Crafts

Biblioteca Alexandrina
Corniche, Alexandria
Tel: 4839999
www.bibalex.org
Weaving and Paper Crafts

Lots of options – and a thoughtful way to avoid dreadful Chinese manufactured products and put your money into a deserving pocket. It would be a good thing if members were active in promoting these locations to friends and maybe for those resident in Luxor to suggest to enlightened local retailers that such products might be easily saleable to the better type of tourist who was motivated to buy things to help people. Such tourists exist and they often have more money than the packaged ‘coasters’.

[Winged Isis]

Thanks Hafiz! We have had a few clients visit the area, and especially the church, so we will add this to the options we offer. We always prefer to support local businesses, especially those with hand-made products, so as to offer unique items for their souvenirs.