Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative form of
Zabbaleen .
Etymologies
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Examples
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As a result, he predominantly Coptic Christian community known as the Zabaleen, meaning "garbage people" in Arabic, separate an estimated 4,000 tons of trash each day into organic and inorganic matter.
Brian Pellot: Environmental Progress in Middle East May Hinge on Financial Gains 2008
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They are known as the "Zabaleen" (Arabic for garbage collectors) and they earn a living sorting and recycling the majority of Cairo's 10,000 pounds of fresh daily refuse.
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It seems that the dirty job of collecting the trash of Cairo was given to a community of Christians, called "Zabaleen".
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Through the film, a tragic backdrop unfolds -- the government begins to hand over waste handling to giant international companies and the Zabaleen begin to confront the annihilation of their jobs.
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"They destroyed our income," said Umm Gerges, a 37-year-old Zabaleen mother, as quoted in the London Times.
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For years already the state has experimented with wiping out the Zabaleen, but there is widespread disagreement over why.
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Some say they are targeting the Zabaleen because they're Christian minorities, while others argue they are catering to foreign business interests.
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In April the government ordered the slaughter of 300,000 pigs, putting thousands of Zabaleen out of work.
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According to New Scientist magazine, the efficiency rate of the Zabaleen is almost 85%, rivaling the best of Western urban recycling models.
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Six days a week the Zabaleen meticulously organize the city's trash into metals, plastics, glass, textiles, biodegradables, etc.
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