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Laila Iskandar: Consultant from Egypt

April 18, 2008

The sun has just risen in Cairo, and the city's "garbage people" are moving through the streets, collecting trash. They will take the refuse back to their homes in the poor quarter of the city and sort it.

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Image: DW-TV

For over 20 years Laila Iskandar has been trying to help disenfranchised people to organise their livelihoods according to a business plan. And in the case of Cairo's rubbish collectors it has worked. Today, US company Procter & Gamble is paying for the education of the children of the "garbage people" - in return, their plastic containers are efficiently recycled. "No-one", says Iskandar, "is completely bankrupt. Everyone can contribute something...". Our reporter Patrick Benning follows the award winning entrepreneur through her day.