SERVING DISADVANTAGED FAMILIES IN CAIRO’S ‘GARBAGE RECYCLING CITY’

In this episode, Embrace CEO Tim Livesey speaks with two inspiring Egyptian women: Mona and Nardeen. They run a project called ‘The Rock’, which supports the Zabbaleen (Arabic for ‘garbage collectors’) community – Coptic Christians who live on the edge of Cairo in one of the world’s largest informal garbage recycling districts.

Above: Mona and Nardeen

Mona and Nardeen start by sharing their personal journeys and motivations to working in the humanitarian sector. Despite both holding engineering degrees, the two women share a strong calling to work with disadvantaged children and families in Manshiyet Naser, a Cairo suburb that is home to Egypt’s largest community of Zabbaleen (garbage collectors).

They explain how the project is preventing children from ending up in orphanages - where their emotional and psychological needs are often unmet - and how they support struggling parents, helping families to be safe and secure places for children.

The two women talk about what their faith means to them and explain why they are hopeful for the future, in spite of the challenging social context where they work.

Mona and Nardeen also give a flavour of their favourite places in Egypt, sharing what they would do with a visitor to their homeland and what their favourite Egyptian dishes are.

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Learn more about The Rock

Embrace’s Programmes and Partnerships Manager, Kat Brealey, shares a personal account of visiting families supported by The Rock Project in Cairo.