Mounir and Sister Emmanuelle needed a board of trustees who would manage the money for them properly. They chose nine people and created the Association for the Protection of the Environment, of which Yousriya became a founding member. The association was officially registered in 1985. Its aim at the time was the creation of a compost plant, eventually established on land leased from the government. A couple of years into the project, the association boasted a small, empty, administrative building and little more.
Truthful criticism hurts.
I knew that she was right, and I felt the sting of her words. I set out to work at once. I organised craft classes for the young girls of the Muqattam garbage collectors' community. I got a literacy programme going. At the time, my eldest son was given a contract by an international furniture firm to make rag rugs.