#garbage dreams

[mia-hilda]

after two years of looking i finally found a DVD copy of a film otherwise assumed to be lost media. so here it is! please consider watching and learning about the Zabbaleen (lit. "garbage people") of Cairo, who recycle(d) up to 80% of what they collected

Garbage Dreams (2009) : Mai Iskander : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Garbage Dreams is a 2009 feature length documentary film produced and directed by Mai Iskander. Filmed over the course of four years, Garbag

[garbageunicorn13]

Man, I wish I could remember the dream I had last night because it was so interesting with the story that was going on and I was sad when I was woken up from it. It’d be nice to be able to go back to it now that I’m home and sleepy. Maybe I’ll remember what happened randomly later on and I can share a few details I remember. 

[garbageunicorn13]

Thinking about the 2 pronoun related dreams I had during 2021 and they’re what made me decide to officially put online that I used they/them. 

The first dream I had my friend was introducing me to someone and she said I used he/him and I was like “actually it’s they/them” and the person looked at me and I panicked and said “or she/her!” not because I wanted to be referred to as she/her but because I was struck with the fear that they’d yell at me or hurt me if I wasn’t “normal” or whatever.

The second dream I had I was in a car with my friend (again?) and someone else that I didn’t know. Might’ve been another person too but I’m not sure. But the person I remember being there that I didn’t know was trying to think of what pronouns they liked and I was like “well there’s they/them” and they kinda hummed and then I said “or ae/aer” and they just said nah immediately basically. I think that person might’ve settled on he/him and/or they/them but

I felt disappointed that the ae/aer one was brushed off and I’m not sure why. I’ve been trying to figure out if I also like those pronouns since in the dream I offered up they/them and then ae/aer and I go by they/them so it would lead me to believe I was offering up pronouns that I used? But I’ve never used ae/aer and I can’t remember meeting someone ever that uses ae/aer, although I’m aware that there are people that do and I even made sure to google it to double check that it was a thing. I guess I must’ve seen it somewhere before and I just don’t remember.

Idk I thought this might interesting to share because before these dreams, I had been considering using they/them and it just really solidified it for me.

tldr: Basically I use they/them pronouns and am considering trying out ae/aer (I would still use they/them) because of dreams I had last year (2021).

[theskyisglue]

On the outskirts of Cairo lies the world's largest garbage village. A labyrinth of narrow roadways camouflaged by trash, the village is home to 60,000 Zaballeen — Arabic for "garbage people." The Zaballeen have survived for centuries by recycling Cairo's waste. Members of Egypt's minority Coptic Christian community, these entrepreneurial garbage workers recycle nearly all the trash they collect, maintaining what could be the world’s most efficient waste disposal system.

Filmed over four years, GARBAGE DREAMS follows three teenage boys born into the Zaballeen's trash trade: 17-year-old Adham, 16-year-old Osama, and 18-year-old Nabil. Laila, a community activist who also teaches the boys at their neighborhood Recycling School, guides the boys as they transition into adulthood at a time when the Zaballeen community is at a crossroads.

With a population of 18 million, Cairo — the largest city in the Middle East and Africa — has no sanitation service. For generations, the city’s residents have paid the Zaballeen a minimal amount to collect and recycle their garbage. Each day, the Zaballeen collect more than 4,000 tons of garbage and bring it for processing in their village, where plastic granulators, cloth-grinders, and paper and cardboard compactors hum constantly. As the world's capacity to generate trash skyrockets, Western cities boast of 30 percent recycling rates — admirable, until you compare it with the 80 percent recycling rate the Zaballeen can claim.

In 2003, following the international trend to privatize services, Cairo sold multimillion dollar contracts to three corporations to pick up the city's garbage. Shimmering waste trucks now line the streets, but these multinational waste disposal corporations are only contractually obligated to recycle 20 percent of what they collect, leaving the rest to rot in giant landfills. As these foreign companies came in with waste trucks and begin carting garbage to nearby landfills, the Zaballeen watched their way of life disappearing.

Suddenly faced with the globalization of their trade, Adham and Osama are each forced to make choices that will impact their futures and the survival of the Zaballeen community. Activist Laila sighs with despair: “They don’t see that we are poor people living off of trash. What are we suppose to do now?”

Unfortunately, the ability of the Zaballeen to both acquire and process Cairo’s garbage has become harder in the last few years. Cairo’s Zaballeen are still locked out of the trash trade by the multinational companies that arrived on the scene several years ago as part of the Egyptian government’s failed attempt to overhaul the municipal waste management system.

Five years after the multinationals took over, it has become abundantly clear that the privatized waste management system is not working.

One of the multinational companies’ contract was terminated because it failed to keep Cairo's streets clean. With time, it became evident to the two remaining multinationals that they did not have the capacity to manage all of Cairo’s garbage or find a large permanent constant work force. As a result, the foreign waste companies started to contract some Zaballeen, allowing them access to the garbage in return for their garbage collections service. While these Zaballeen are pleased to once again have access to the garbage, they have not regained any percentage of the fees residents paid for their garbage collection service.

Egypt's recent decision to cull the nation’s nearly 350,000 pigs (in an attempt to prevent an outbreak of swing flu in Egypt) wiped out a vital source of income for Zaballeen that came from raising pigs who fed off organic waste.

While the current economic outlook for the Zaballeen appears bleak, with garbage piling higher every day and with increasing pressure being put on the government to clean up Cairo’s streets, there is undoubtedly growing international and national interest in the Zaballeen’s industrious and innovative recycling practices.

[jamiededes]

THE EGYPTIAN ZABBALLEEN, DREAMS AND JOBS ... and a Writing Prompt

THE EGYPTIAN ZABBALLEEN, DREAMS AND JOBS … and a Writing Prompt

A Group of Boys at Moqattam Village It is – unfortunately – not news that in some places (including First World countries) children and adults dig through trash cans or garbage dumps looking for something to eat or for cast-off goods that might be used or sold. There is no story, however, that quite compares to that of the Egyptian Zabbaleen or “garbage people” for sheer industry and…

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[homeboyok]

A Personal Story For Your Troubles - Why My Friend Should Win!

I come before you today to discuss a personal matter. I want to make sure that I’m as human as I can be with this site, but I have tried to be very conscientious about not being unreasonably informal. With that said I’m going to do something a bit unorthodox today, and that is to write a quick story about a dear friend of mine, Gavin Rogers. Gavin and I met 6 and a half years ago at a summer camp…

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[ifiwereahoarder]

The Kind of Hoarders We Need to Be

Garbage Dreams, a 2009 documentary by Mai Iksander, follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, on the outskirts of Cairo. The village is home to 60,000 Zaballeen, Arabic for “garbage people,” who make their living by collecting and recycling garbage.  Facing the globalization of their trade, each of the boys is forced to make choices that will impact his future and the survival of his community.

There is also a Garbage Dreams game, which allows you to practice picking through trash for valuable recyclables.  It doesn't compare to Scrabble, but it's surprisingly fun.  

Buy the DVD or a t-shirt

Play the Garbage Dreams Recycling Game 

Watch a preview