Zabaleen, Chapter 2

There are people who are aware of the plight of the residents of Zabaleen. There are European nuns who work among the children in the schools. I have read that Proctor and Gamble has a lot of programs there, they have a vested interest. The plastic containers of Proctor and Gamble products are often recovered by forgers who then fill them up with soap and resold as real Proctor and Gamble products. So Proctor and Gamble have set up shops where the locals can shred the plastic of these containers so they can't be reused by forgers. Kids learn to read by reading Proctor and Gamble containers. Every where we went kids asked us for money but we have been to places where they asked for pencils and another place where these 2 waiters, mere boys, asked for pens. I, always, carry a lot of pens and pencils for writing my stuff. I gave each a pen, they were so happy. They wore it proudly on their shirt pocket. Have you ever been to a place where a little means so much?

High above Cairo is the Citadel, where Saladin built this huge complex. Subsequent invaders of Egypt have expanded the place and behind the Citadel is Zabaleen, it is hidden away from the city. Above and beyond Zabaleen are the Moqattam hills and it is in these hills, a man from Poland, our taxi driver told us (we never found out his name) who built this massive complex for the people of Zabaleen. One only need to continue all the way through Zabaleen to get there. Here are places of recreation for the people of Zabaleen, there is a park, a few cave churches, recreation complex, picnic areas and space where the kids can play and the adults can congregate, worship and relax after the days' work and after they have cleaned up. The whole place has been excavated from the rocky hills and every where on the cliff surfaces are carved pictorial representations of Scripture. It is truly impressive and heartening to know that there are people who care.

This is the entrance to the main church who was carved out of the rocky cliffs, they moved 15 tons of rocks out to build this church and put in seats and an altar, it seats 5,000 people.

One cannot distinguish a Muslim from a Coptic Christian, they look alike, they're all Egyptians. The Coptic Christians claim to have a purer pedigree because they don't inter marry. They claim to be the direct descendants of the Pharaohs. The Muslims, because of intermarriage with the Arabs invaders, have their Pharaonic blood diluted. Every one speaks Arabic though in a Coptic Christian service, they sing in the Coptic language and use a Coptic liturgy. They are vital in keeping the Coptic language and heritage alive. This is supposed to be the language of the Pharaohs.

It was a very rushed 5 days in Cairo and as I write this, I have the luxury of time to reprocess what I've seen and experienced. It has truly been a heartening experience.