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Cairo Slums’ Twist on Summertime Cool-Off

September 6, 2015
Children jumping in a ‘public swimming pool’ in Dwayka, Cairo. Credit: Mostafa Darwish

As the summer vacation comes to an end, Egyptians recap on their vacations differently. While some share photographs from lavish seaside resorts and of their poolside lemonade mixers, the majority of Egyptians are deprived of the faintest accessibility to such luxuries. To provide children with access to some facilities for entertainment, one local in the poor town of Dwayka in Cairo built a swimming pool using welded bars and other scrap material. “[The swimming pool] was founded by a local due to the non-availability of a kids club in the neighborhood and the lack of funds for the people who live there to visit coastal cities,” writes Mostafa Darwish on Facebook. Located in Manshiet Nasser, Dwayka made headlines in Egypt on September 6, 2008 when more than 100 people were killed or injured after huge boulders crushed tens of houses in the town. The town, classified as a slum, also has prevalent drug use and high rates of poverty. Yet, this isn’t how many of Egypt’s middle- upper-classes spend their recreational hours. Olympic sized swimming pools and large, green football pitches. Access to gyms with dozens of treadmills fitted with…


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