Garbage City: the district inhabited by around 300,000 "Zabbaleens" who live, breathe and work amongst garbage. To outsiders, the Zabbaleens are "unclean" and judged and despised for their way of life, stained skin and smelly hair.
The pungent odour surrounding Garbage city creates an invisible barrier which repels the rest of the city's inhabitants from entering, and the relentless poverty cycle inside prevents the "garbage people" from leaving.
Jesus lived to break boundaries and reach down to the outcasts with love, grace and acceptance. He said: “Nothing outside of a person can make them ‘unclean’ by going into them. It is what comes out of them that makes them unclean.” (Mark 7:15)
The Zabbaleens are a predominantly Coptic Christian community and make it their job to collect, sort, reuse and recycle resources which have been thrown away. They make the rest of the city clean! Their joy and contentment is the result of them accepting Jesus' love and living for him.
The HopeForMENA team obediently followed Jesus' footsteps and entered into Garbage City, to a far corner where a community of non-believers lives. Navigating between piles of garbage, swarms of flies and heavy-laden rubbish trucks, they were warmly greeted by men and women sorting rubbish and children playing with emaciated donkeys.
A frenzy of dirt-smeared, barefoot children swarmed the team members when they produced some small gifts from their bags. One girl wearing a sweet smile and and hijab linked arms with a team member and excitedly led her to meet her family.
Shaqiqa is the youngest of the 4 sisters. Her home consists of one small dark room, one bed, one rug, a fridge, a small TV and the rest of their belongings cluttered around the remaining space. Only her mother works, sorting rubbish to provide for the family as her father's back was injured from many years of carrying heavy bags around the city.
The one small window looks out onto the street below where a poster of Jesus Christ can be seen. During their visit, it is revealed that the family had once been offered $1500 (USD) for their eldest daughter by human traffickers. The money would have provided months of food for the family, but they had refused the offer. Despite the hardships the family face, they smile and welcome the team gladly into their humble home.
Each time the team revisited Shaqiqa's family, they brought with them food and resources to share hope in creative ways. Curious aunties, cousins and neighbours would flock to see what was going on, and soon the room would be filled to the brim with mingling "garbage people" and team members. What unfolded was a frenzy of origami crafting, hair-braiding, medical check-ups and laughter. Using a colour-coded bead bracelet, they were able to share the Good News with the girls and leave them with a lasting gift to help them remember what they heard.
By the simple act of visiting and spending time with them, Shaqiqa’s family was made to feel special, loved and cherished. The precious gift of the bracelets speak of an even more precious gift which gives hope and light to all who choose to receive it.
Our hope and prayer is that this family would know how loved and cherished they are by our Heavenly Father, and choose to accept the best gift of all.