Garbage Collecting Communities
Part of my trip to Cairo over the Eid Al-Adha break included visits to two garbage collecting communities. International Samaritan, the non-profit that works in alleviating poverty in these types of communities throughout the world, has worked in Ezbet El-Nakhl. Therefore, I thought it would be great to visit this community as well as one of the world’s most well-known garbage communities in Mokattam Hills. Not only was I interested because I have visited and served in garbage communities in Haiti and Honduras, but also because I am currently working on a thesis proposal that will focus on these communities.
Ezbet El-Nakhl
We first visited Ezbet El-Nakhl. We took the metro to the red line and then proceeded to take a van which intended to drive us to the community of Coptic Orthodox Sisters who have developed a center, hospital, and school that serves the Zabbaleen, the garbage collectors. After driving for a little while, we eventually left the bus and began walking to the religious community because the roads are not intended for use by vans and cars. This had to do with the condition of the roads and the many bumps and large rocks making it a nightmare for the tires and bottoms of cars, but also because the number of people walking through the street and the various stores that extended to the street prevented anything short of a motorbike, cart-pulling donkeys, or tuk-tuks.
We arrived to the Daughters of St. Mary Convent where the community of Coptic Orthodox Sisters live and work. Initially, we received a tour of various programs and ministries of Al Salam Center, which began in 1979 to provide medical and social services to those who live and work in the garbage area, including a center for handicapped children, the Mahaba School for kindergarten, primary and middle school, and various programs for women and youth geared towards empowerment.
After receiving a tour of the grounds of Al Salam Center within the religious community (we were not able to visit the garbage area where the Mahaba School is located), we met with Sister Maria who is the director of the Center and of this community. In our conversation with Sister Maria, I learned about the differences of the garbage community in Ezbet El-Nakhl and the one in Mokattam Hills, and we discussed some of the history of this area.With around 20,000 living in the garbage area and working in garbage collecting, Ezbet El-Nakhl is probably the second largest garbage collecting community in Cairo. It follows behind the well-known ‘garbage city’ of Mokattam Hills, located near the Citadel in the southeast region of Cairo. The needs of the garbage community appear much greater in Ezbet El-Nakhl compared to those of Mokattam Hills. Although I am sure this community in northeast Cairo could focus their efforts and donations on various projects, it seems that the long term goal for this community, according to Sister Maria, is the construction of another school to serve the students who are unable to attend the Mahaba School because of the lack of space.
I found two things from our discussion to be rather fascinating. First, the difference between the garbage collecting communities is rather striking. The ‘garbage city’ of Mokattam Hills is the most well known in Egypt and it has gained popular attention throughout the world in recent years through the documentary “Garbage Dreams” and in other ways. Through the efforts of various religious and non-religious NGOs, this community has been able to enhance its collecting, sorting, and recycling processes – recycling around 80% of what is collected. The community of Mokattam differs that of Ezbet El-Nakhl in three significant ways: greater number of garbage collectors, more organized, and more well known. As a result, most of the attention is given towards the Mokattam garbage community and this is also evident when speaking with Egyptians and local Cairo residents about garbage communities. The first, and in most cases only, community to respond with is Mokattam. Although Ezbet El-Nakhl might be a poorer community and less organized, both communities suffer from lack of government recognition or support and are viewed negatively by Egyptian society as a whole.Mokattam Hills
Later that same day, we visited the garbage community of Mokattam Hills. While driving through the city, one could easily tell of the increased recycling processes made available through NGOs and other organizations. It was amazing to see tons of pick-up trucks and flatbed trucks, and even cart-pulling donkeys loaded up with trash bags and driving through the city to be sorted, and recycled.
Despite the lack of government assistance and recognition, this community (with other garbage communities) serves the citizens of greater Cairo and other parts of Egypt, through garbage collection – one of the most unimaginable tasks for most Egyptians. However, for the Zabbaleen this is their life – their way of life.
Our time in the actual community area of Mokattam was limited to driving in the van due to our limited time there. We drove to a higher part of Mokattam Hills where the cave churches serve as important Holy sites for Coptic Christians.
Cave Churches
Church of Saint Simon the Tanner
This church was named after St. Simon the Tanner (or St. Simon the Shoemaker), commemorating the miracle of movie the Mokattam mountain on November 27, 979. This church is currently only used for spiritual meetings and gatherings. Next to this church is a vocational training center and hospital.
Written in Arabic on the wall is a passage from the Bible: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as a small mustard seed, you, can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
Church of Virgin Mary and Saint Simon the Tanner
This church was named after the Virgin Mary and St. Simon The Tanner, also honoring the miracle of moving Jabal Mokkattam. This church seats over 20,000 people. In addition to Holy Masses, the Church of Virgin Mary and St. Simon the Tanner hosts spiritual meetings that are held every Thursday. We visited Mokattam on a Wednesday and visited the cave churches where they were preparing for a special gathering of Egyptians to pray for their country and its future on Friday, November 11th that welcomed around 50,000 from all over Cairo and Egypt that lasted from 6 pm on Friday to 6 am on Saturday.
The Miracle
The miracle of moving the Mokattam mountain is lengthy and this link provides great background and description of the miracle.
In a nutshell, the Caliph Al-Mu’iz threatened Patriarch Abraam to kill the Copts if he could not perform the miracle of the moving of the mountain. After praying in the Hanging Church, Abraam received a visit from the Holy Virgin who told him to go to the market where she would find a one-eyed man carrying a sack of water. He found Simon the Tanner, who told the Patriarch to go to the top of the mountain with all priests and other religious men, providing him with what to say to Al-Mu’iz, who was accompanied by his soldiers. The words said by Patriarch Abraam caused an earthquake over the mountain, leading the Caliph Mu’iz to say to Arbaam, “You have proven that you faith is a true one.” More history on St. Simon the Tanner and the cave churches in Mokattam can be found here.
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