The Poor of Our Earth

August 6, 2006

For our trip to Dahshur, Harby came up with the idea of crossing the Nile by means of the auto ferry. The picture above is of the moment when the ferry is about to dock, the people and cars ready to stream off and go about their business.

The guy with the colorful plastic containers on his head made an odd sight when he first walked onto the ferry. He walked on, and carefully set down his load at the head of the cars, then came and sat on the shaded wooden benches, right across from me. He pulled out a tiny Qur'an and began to recite a sura.

As the ferry started, a woman, dressed in black, came by handing to everyone a photocopied piece of paper:

It wasn't hard to guess the meaning, but here is her story as it is told by this small document:

In the name of God the Merciful Full of Mercy: I am the mother of 6 children, some of whom are studying in school, and the youngest of the six has been afflicted with a sickness for two years. Their father died 5 years ago and I live in Hijrah for a monthly rent whose amount is 90 pounds. I am sick and unable to work. So I seek from Allah, praised be his name, the Most High, and also from you a small aid in order to help with the support of myself and my six children. God the Most High said in his noble book: in the name of God the Merciful Full of Mercy: "As for the orphan, don't subjugate him! As for the beggar, don't repulse him!" God the great is trustworthy.

Religious language fills her appeal (the Qur'an reader across from me would be a common type). But the main feature of this appeal is its hint of a personal story: husband gone, growing children, sickness both for herself and her youngest child. Her rent is 90 pounds, which comes out to about $17 American dollars.. and she must need food and clothing over and above that.

I noticed in the last Al-Ahram Weekly (3-9 August) an article on poverty in Egypt. It was a rare article that did not jabber on about the shame of Arabs in not taking a more militant stand against Israel.. and detailed the kind of take-home pay that many Egyptians live with:

Speaking from her stable spot on the broken pavement where she has been selling watercress for years, Nafisa said she used to make about LE20 a day when she worked as house help. Due to sudden health problems, she had to quit the profession and was forced to cope with a new situation in which she says she makes only a pound and a half a day. "I need at least LE10 a day... to eat and cover my basic expenses, but I would be happy to be able to make even LE5 a day...

LE20 per day is about $3.50 (and that was when things were going well). LE5 per day comes out to about 90 cents (she would be happy to make that much!)

In Cairo one constantly passes women, dressed in black, often holding a child, who are selling some small thing: a packet of tissues, batteries, crackers.. anything that could sell. And day after day these people sit there and hold out their goods for the passers-by. I have always wondered about the economics of that kind of selling: How much can these women possibly make? The answer is not much!

Men who work as day laborers also come up in the article. The following quotation is attributed to a certain Mohamed, a kiosk operator:

"Look at these young men who keep coming to this workers recruitment spot every day in the hope of making LE2 a day, and compare them to the big people who drive cars and eat very expensive food..."

LE2 is only about 35 cents.. for a day of physical labor.

The bawab (or door-man) for our building is better off. His full time job is to cater to those who live in this building.. picking up food, paying bills, washing cars. He lives with his wife and three young children in the ground floor of this building. He is on the left of the photo below, and those are his three children. (The guy in white is a mystery friend who happened to be there and got included in the photo.)

This past week a bit of a friendship has blossomed between myself and the bawab. For several nights in a row he has come up to the apartment to talk. Through our conversations I have pieced together a little bit about his economic reality. For his full time work he makes about 300 pounds per month, which will be like $45. He has rent free because of his position, but everything else.. food, clothes, transportation, comes out of that basic pay. Look at how cute those kids are: they would do so well in a good school!

I hope I can remember these views of poverty. It's not like poverty is something I have never seen, but I think it went a little deeper this time. These poor people are not those that swell fundamentalist groups.. (the bawab does not even own a Qur'an). They are not exactly the key to fighting the so-called War on Terror. But to somehow contribute to a world that has more opportunities and options for people—that would be a worthwhile undertaking, and it would draw a longer lasting harvest of peace than the billions and billions we spend to destroy people's lives.