02 December 2024
A story by Mohamed MAHDY
Moon Dust
Wadi El Qamar, also known as Moon Valley, is a residential area located in the west of Alexandria, Egypt next to the Portland Cement factory. Just ten meters away from the residential area, the factory processes coal and garbage. It layers the homes of more than 30,000 people with toxic dust, causing tremendous health problems to those who live there.
The Moon Valley is home to 60,000 people, and historical documents show that the residential area was founded more than 70 years ago under King Farouk, predating the cement factory. Residents face enormous incidents of asthma, lung cancer, eye, ear, and throat infections, and chest sensitivities. The health problems caused by the factory dust affect working-age men who cannot support their families due to their deteriorating health conditions. Children are debilitated by these diseases, and the elderly are also particularly at risk.
People there are not living as humanity should. Children are born with asthma. Cement, coal, and car exhaust fills their homes. Every five minutes a new layer of dust appears.
Mohammed Mahdy has been documenting this project from 2016 to 2020, recording the impacts of this dust on the residents of Moon Valley, and how people are trying to survive. Previous efforts to pressure the cement company had failed, but after Mahdy’s project was exhibited in Cairo, and later featured in the New York Times, national and international attention brought results. The company installed filters to limit their pollution and the health minister promised help with medical costs for the worst affected.
The story was created and published as part of the Arab Documentary Photography Programme.