All Projects
جميع المشاريع
This project aims to display the effects of water shortage in Egypt, including the damage that has reached my family and other Delta farmers whose living depends solely on agriculture.
The Nile Delta in Egypt sits at the end of the longest river in the world. It is home to almost half of the country’s population, who are mostly farmers that rely on the Nile for irrigation. Population growth, climate change, sea level rise, sewage drainage, garbage, factory residue, and poor water management are having a profound effect on communities in the Nile Delta. Today farmers struggle to access clean water, which affects their crop production and their health. There is a sharp rise in kidney failure from drinking the polluted water, and respiratory disease from the toxic air it emits.
Thousands of miles from Egypt’s Delta, construction on the Renaissance Dam continues in Ethiopia. Once finished, this dam will inevitably cause an increasing drop in Egypt’s share of the water, putting additional pressure on the Nile Delta farmers. Filling the dam reservoir will disrupt the flow of the Nile to Egypt, and once filled, experts predict a 25% decrease in the freshwater flow. Due to water shortage, the Egyptian government passed a new law that prohibits the cultivation of several kinds of crops, one of which is rice. In some villages of the Nile Delta, fines are imposed on those farmers who dare to cultivate rice and other staple crops.
Egypt has a population of 100 million on track to double by 2050. The growing population needs more food and fresh water for drinking and irrigation. In 1940, water availability was at 90 cubic feet per capita per year. This ratio has decreased to 30 cubic feet per capita per year in 2018, and the government expects the ratio to be further reduced in near future.
We, The Living Dead is a testament to the struggles faced by Nile Delta communities in Egypt.
A NASA inage of the Nile River Delta as seen from space
صورة من ناسا لدلتا نهر النيل من الفضاء الخارجي.
Farmers from Bahr El-Tibn getting ready to go fishing in the fish farms near their village early in the morning. Many farmers also fish on the side to get their family’s daily needs.
مزارعون من بحر التبن يستعدّون في الصباح الباكر للذهاب لصيد الأسماك من مزارع الأسماك بالقرب من قريتهم. يمارس مزارعون كُثُر الصيد إلى جانب الزراعة للوفاء بالاحتياجات اليومية لعائلاتهم.
The pigeon house in my family’s house.
بيت الحمام في منزل عائلتي.
A child playing with the scarecrow in his family’s private agricultural land in Al-Buhaira.
صبيٌ يلعب بخيال المآتة في مزرعة عائلته بالبحيرة.
My uncle Karim, 72, is a farmer in Beheira Governorate on the western Nile Delta. He told me how the community is suffering from severe water problems related to shortage and pollution. The canals are drying up, and they don’t know the reasons why. They are now filled with garbage. Farmers have resorted to using groundwater for irrigation even though it is saturated with minerals that harm the soil, but there are few alternative solutions.
عمي كريم، 72 عاماً، هو مزارعٌ في محافظة البحيرة غرب دلتا النيل. أخبرني كيف يعاني المجتمع من نقص وتلوث المياه بشكلٍ حاد. قنوات الري تجف دون سبب واضح، والآن تملؤها القمامة. في غياب الحلول البديلة، لجأ المزارعون للاعتماد على المياه الجوفية في الري رغم تشبعها بالمعادن التي تضر التربة.
Cracks appear as traces of drought on land in Al-Buhaira - using underground water rich in slats harms the lands.
Cousins playing hide and seek.
أولاد العم يلعبون الغمّيضة.
Nour Eid having lunch on the land following a long day of work.
نور عيد يتناول طعام الغداء على الأرض بعد نهار عمل طويل.
Karim Eid makes a living on corn harvest from his farm. Many farmers resort to the cultivation of crops like corn, because it does not need a large amount of irrigation water.
كريم عيد يعتاش من زراعة الذرة. يلجأ مزارعون كُثُر لزراعة محاصيل كالذرة لأنها لا تحتاج لكميات كبيرة من المياه.
Kids playing hide and seek in Al-Buhira, Egypt.
أطفالٌ يلعبون الغمّيضة في البحيرة، مصر.
One of the farmers in Bahr Al-Tibn washing his horse with sewage water. Many animals in the village became weak and sick from drinking the sewage water.
أحد مزارعي بحر التبن يحمّم حصانه بمياه المجارير. مرض وضعف كثيرٌ من حيوانات القرية جراء شرب مياه المجارير.
Abdelrahman Mahmmoud is six years old. He told me that he and his friends in the village used to fish in the riverbed right in front of the house. Now, these canals are dismantled and there is no water. There’s nothing but garbage left, so the children invent games to entertain themselves.
أخبرني عبد الرحمن محمود، 6 سنوات، أنه وأصدقاءه اعتادوا الصيد من قناة الري المواجهة للمنزل. قنوات الري الآن معطلة ولا ماء فيها. لا يملأ القنوات الآن سوى القمامة، لذا كان على الصبية ابتكار ألعابٍ جديدة لتسلية أنفسهم.
Harvest in Bahr El-Tibn. The crops became weak and full of illnesses due to being watered with sewage water.
الحصاد في بحر التبن. اعتلت المحاصيل وسرت فيها الآفات جراء الري بمياه المجارير.
Abdo Sharbat with the pigeons that he keeps.
عبدو شربات والحمام الذي يعتني به.
One of the farmers praying in a mosque in Bahr El-Tibn.
: أحد المزارعين يصلي في مسجد بجر التبن.
Wajibat Hassan, 60, poses for a portrait at her home. She has been suffering from kidney failure for three years.
واجبات حسن، 60 عاماً، تقف للتصوير أمام منزلها. تعاني من الفشل الكلوي منذ ثلاث سنوات.
Soad Ibrahim, 45, was unable to address pollution problems on her family’s land in Dakahlya, Egypt due to financial problems.
سعاد إبراهيم، 45 عاماً، لم تستطع التعامل مع مشاكل التلوث في أرض عائلتها بالدقهلية بسبب الضائقة المالية.
Bakr Ali Mubarak, 31, has a diploma in agriculture and owns his own chicken farm, which he started to gain an extra income in addition to farming. Bakr says the water reaching his village is filled with diseases, and they are forced to water the land with it due to insufficient alternatives. This water comes from the drainage of the Gharbiya Governorate water and includes sewage and factory residue.
بكر علي مبارك، 31 عاماً، حاصل على دبلوما بالزراعة ويمتلك مزرعة دواجن يجني منها ربحاً إضافياً إلى جانب الزراعة. يقول بكر أن المياه الواصلة إلى قريته تملؤها الأمراض وهم مجبرون على ري الأرض بها لغياب البديل. تأتي المياه من الصرف الصحي لمحافظة الغربية وتحتوي على مخلفات صناعية.
Farmers from Bahr El-Tibn getting ready to go home after a rough day of harvesting tomatoes. Many women from different villages work for other people on their lands for 30 pounds and a bucket of tomatoes a day.
مزارعات من بحر التبن تتحضّرن للعودة إلى منازلهن بعد يوم صعب في حصاد البندورة. نساءٌ كثيرات من قرى عدّة تعمل في أراضي الغير مقابل 30 جنيهاً وسلّة من البندورة يومياً.
Farmers from Bahr El-Tibn working on harvesting tomatoes for a small amount of money and a bucket of tomatoes.
مزارعات من بحر التبن تعملن على حصاد البندورة لقاء القليل من المال وسلّة من البندورة.
The water station in Bahr El-Tibn contains sewage water and factory waste.
محطة معالجة المياه في بحر التبن تحتوي على مياه مجارير ومخلفات صناعية.
Children from Bahr El-Tibn no longer want to work as farmers like their parents.
لا يمكن لأطفال بحر التبن العمل كفلاحين مثل أهلهم.
Amina Ghazy, 36, fainted on her bed from kidney failure. Amina’s husband left her because he couldn’t afford the cost of her medications. Amina told me that she must go on dialysis four times a week in a hospital far from her home because there is no hospital near her.
أمينة غازي، 36 عاماً، مغشي عليها في سريرها بسبب الفشل الكلوي. هجرها زوجها بسبب عدم قدرته على تحمل مصاريف العلاج. وأخبرتني أمينة عن حاجتها للغسيل الكلوي أربع مرات أسبوعياً في مستشفى بعيد عن منزلها، إذ ليس من ثمة مستشفى قريب.
Kareem Eid watches television with his grandkids at his home in Al-Buhaira.
كريم عيد يشاهد التلفاز مع أحفاده في منزله بالبحيرة.
Mahmoud Khalil, 70, has kidney failure. He must undergo dialysis three times a week in a far away hospital. There is a nearby hospital in village where he lives, but there are few available doctors. He left farming as soon as he was diagnosed with kidney failure.
محمود خليل، 70 عاماً، يعاني الفشل الكلوي، ويحتاج للغسيل الكلوي ثلاث مرات أسبوعياً في مستشفى بعيد. هناك مستشفى قريب من قريته إلا أنه ينقصه الأطباء. توقف عن الزراعة بمجرد تشخيص حالته.
Nour Eid, 58, gets ready for his day on his farm. "I was supposed to buy a new pump to bring mineral water to irrigate my land, but its not an ultimate solution, as that water also affects the land.”
نور عيد، 58 عاماً، يبدأ النهار في مزرعته. "كان من المفترض أن أشتري مضخةً جديدة لري الأرض بالمياه الجوفية. ليس ذلك حلاً مثالياً فالمياه المالحة تؤثر سلباً على الأرض."
Um Issam holds her grandson as he receives a treatment session with the respiration device that helps him breathe. Many children in Bahr El-Tibn are born with respiratory problems as a consequence of the toxic fumes from the sewage water that reduces their immunity to fight infections.
أم عصام تمسك حفيدها بينما يتلقى العلاج على جهاز طبي يُمكّنه من التنفس. يُولد كثير من أطفال بحر التبن بمشاكل في الجهاز التنفسي بسبب الأبخرة السامة المتصاعدة من المجارير ما يؤثر سلباً على مناعتهم.
A family home in Al Buhira, Egypt.
منزل عائلي بالبحيرة، مصر.
Residents of Al-Warraq Island, in Cairo, wait in lines to fill their water tanks, as the island suffers from a drinking water crisis.
سكان جزيرة الوراق بالقاهرة ينتظرون في طوابير لتعبئة حاويات المياه إذ تعاني الجزيرة من أزمة نقص مياه الشرب.
One of the many dead animals which are thrown in Bahr El-Tibn’s canal rots in the water. Farmers use water from that canal to water their plants.
أحد الحيوانات النافقة ملقىً في قناة مائية ببحر التبن. يستخدم المزارعون نفس المياه لري محاصيلهم.
Framers stand on their land impacted by water pollution in Belqas Dakahkya, Egypt.
مزارعون يقفون على أرضهم التي أتلفها التلوث ببلقاس الدقهلية، مصر.
Ahmed Gaber is an Egyptian photographer born in 1996, in Al-Buhaira governorate in the Nile Delta. He found his passion in photography in 2012, and started working with local newspapers and magazines. His work has been was exhibited in Egypt, London, and Dubai. He is currently working as a freelance photographer and completing his studies at Alexandria University.
www.instagram.com/ahmedgaaber
agaber904@gmail.com
Ahmed Gaber is an Egyptian photographer born in 1996, in Al-Buhaira governorate in the Nile Delta. He found his passion in photography in 2012, and started working with local newspapers and magazines. His work has been was exhibited in Egypt, London, and Dubai. He is currently working as a freelance photographer and completing his studies at Alexandria University.
www.instagram.com/ahmedgaaber
agaber904@gmail.com
