They call me 'Mama Maggie.' The nun helping Cairo's poorest children.
'Mama Maggie' is a Coptic Christian nun who gave up her life of wealth and privilege to help the Zabaleen, Coptic Christians who make a living recycling Cairo’s rubbish. Just outside Cairo is what can best be described as a slum, with carts pulled by donkeys struggling up makeshift streets strewn with rubbish. This is where the Zabaleen recycle 9,000 tonnes of waste per day, almost two-thirds of the rubbish discarded by Cairo's 17 million people.
Maggie tells John Laurenson how she gave up her wealth and the trappings of her affluent Cairo lifestyle to minister to some of Egypt’s poorest people.
(Photo: Mama Maggie with Zabaleen children.)
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