One of the most remarkable examples of Christian hope for the poor is taking place among the residents of garbage dumps in Cairo, Egypt.
The poor people live in seven dilapidated villages within the dumps on the outskirts of Cairo. Each night, from midnight until dawn, fathers and sons ride through the city of 14 million people in trucks or donkey carts collecting thousands of tons of garbage. Younger children come along to guard the loads.
The trash is then transported back to the dumps where it is deposited into the centre of the family home. Women and girls rummage through its disease-infested contents to find food and materials to be recycled, including metal, plastic and paper. Bones are set aside to make glue. EN talked to one woman who has been there, who describes the smell as almost unbearable.
