Garbage Dreams
(2009)
A Movie Review by Michael Mullaley
of The Green Life
When Adham, a 17-year-old who lives in a garbage village on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, is asked what he'd do with all the trash if he owned a landfill, he says: "I'd dig it out. It's all a gift from God to be recycled and reused."
Where he lives, recycling and reusing are more than earth-friendly actions; they're the only ways of life. Adham is part of the Zabbaleen (Arabic for "garbage people"), a peasant community whose only source of income is to recycle trash collected from the streets of Cairo – a city with no waste-disposal system.
A crisis ensues when Cairo decides to contract companies from Spain and Italy to dispose of the trash. The film follows Adham and two other trash-collecting boys, Nabil and Osama, chronicling the choices they make to secure their survival. Forced to adopt newer trash-collecting methods, the Zaballeen start a recycling school where children learn to read, write, and do business.
The film does an excellent job of portraying the cultural pressures that the boys deal with, and provides a touching example of hard work and perseverance in an attempt to make the best life possible. It's humbling to watch these teens aspire to live like Westerners, and a good reminder of how much we take for granted.
Picture at Wikipedia
Working as a Team
"A pod of bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Florida have developed a
remarkable hunting strategy in order to catch fish. Another awesome
thing about this technique is that only one female in the pod can
create this ring, and it's always counterclockwise. "
From Jane Y-B, friend of HMHC; thank you!
Posted by Nadette
Posted on February 10, 2010 at 03:55 PM in Film, Food and Drink, Guest Commentary, HMHC Friends, Pets and other animals | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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