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Association helps Cairo's 'garbage people' make a clean living

The residents of Manshiyat Naser, a slum area on the outskirts of Cairo, have been collecting garbage for decades but now, they learn to recycle it as well.

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A garbage collector (zebaline) stands beside his cart of waste in Manshiyat Naser, Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 17, 2014. — David Degner/Getty Images

Most people in Egypt don’t think much about their garbage. But for women in Manshiyat Naser, a slum area in the outskirts of Cairo, garbage is an opportunity to make a living. 

For the last seven decades, the residents of this community, mainly Coptic Christians who have moved to Cairo from Upper Egypt, go door to door in Cairo gathering garbage, which they bring to their enclosed community to sort out and sell for a small profit. 

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