In the shadow of Cairo’s medieval aqueduct, Mohamed Mustafa teaches his five-year-old son the family’s trade, one shear at a time: Mohamed is one of Cairo’s donkey barbers, an expert in trimming and styling horses, camels, mules, sheep, goats, dogs and donkeys. He is a third-generation qassasseen, the Egyptian-Arabic term for animal barbers, and his grandfather worked in Cairo’s Abdeen Palace.
Mohamed’s father, Mahmoud, taught him the trade and now, near Old Cairo along the road following the aqueduct, he teaches the craft to his son, Mustafa.
It is a profession often looked down upon in Egyptian society, since it involves working with the beasts of burden that still roam modern Cairo’s streets, pulling carts filled with vegetables or loads of trash from neighborhoods.
However, workers rely on these animals and take pride in them, getting them haircuts or having their fur shaved with designs or their initials ahead of major holidays.
“There are a lot of other people who do this job, but he [Mohamed] is gentle, and his prices are gentle too,” said Abdulrahman Ibrahim, a cart driver who stopped by Mohamed’s outdoor shop to get his horse’s monthly trim.
Mohamed charges between 20 and 30 Egyptian pounds (US$3 to US$5) per customer, with each appointment taking him less than 30 minutes to finish, depending on the order and the animal’s sensitivities.
“All the horses are clever — in fact, all the donkeys, cows and dogs are clever. Without a doubt, dogs will slip out from under you,” he said.
Yet the work is also dangerous. Later in his family’s one-room home, Mohamed traces a scar across his right jaw with a finger missing its first joint.
“One horse bit my finger off, another horse hit me here,” Mohamed said, pointing to a scar on his jaw visible through a thick beard.
He added that a dentist told him he might lose most of his lower teeth soon.
Despite that, Mohamed takes pride in his work.
“People love us because they trust the quality of work between us,” he said. “They loved my father, and my work is like my father’s work.”
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also tracked the spacecraft’s doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station. It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-tonne spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time
RSS