Current position
Jessica has now finshed her PhD and is a pupil barrister. Bill is a video producer and environmental communication consultant
Journey of a Lifetime project
In 2006, Jessica Boyd and Bill Finnegan spent three weeks with the Zabbaleen, Cairo’s indigenous waste collectors and recyclers.
Men of all ages collect the city's rubbish door to door, day and night. They bring it back to their homes, where it is hand sorted by the women of the household.
Organic waste is fed to pigs and goats, and any useable material is sold on to recyclers. 80-90% of the rubbish is reused or recycled; the whole system creating a highly efficient economy.
But, there is a social cost. Jessica and Bill learned about the environmental and health hazards that continue to plague the community, the difficulties of education, and the struggle to sustain an identity and a role in an age of globalized service industries.
After the award, Bill returned to the US to his company, Tamarack Media, advising environmental groups on using media to educate. Bill also teaches video production and editing at Champlain College and is currently Associate Producer & Additional Editor for The Axe in the Attic, a documentary on the Katrina Diaspora which premiered at the 2007 New York Film Festival.