Imbaba Houseboats عوامات إمبابة During the last 3 days, I had the opportunity to live and document the Houseboats of Imbaba before evicting them by the government, with a very evil and organised plan by the government that has been prepared a long time ago by refusing to take the rent from the owners, Two weeks earlier, the government handed 32 residential houseboat owners, large fines and notice of their houseboats’ imminent removal What gives life to a place? for sure it is the people, not a restaurant, not a coffee shop or a Nile cruise, and all these houseboats are loaded with memories, history, art, love and identity. but all of this will be wiped away to be replaced with the fancy lights of Nile cruises and restaurants. I met Ikhlas 88 years old who lived all her life in houseboats and now she has to go out. It is the destruction of a life that has been built over the years in one week, I just can't imagine If Ikhlas is going to make it after leaving her boat, pets, ducks and memories. Yannis my german friend always prefers to stay in houseboats rather than hotels when he comes to Cairo because of how authentic it is, and gives him a real feeling of the city, Ahdaf sold her house in the UK to live on this boat with her children and grandchildren, Saad has been living in houseboats for 35 years and now he just doesn't know how he can adapt to another lifestyle. and last but not least Manar and her parents sold all their belongings to follow her dream of living in a houseboat by the Nile. Those who are asking not to remove the houseboats are not romanticizing it, It is our heritage and history, It is our real identity, We are all clueless with so much anger because it can and will happen to anyone. Reporting for @gettyimages @gettyreportage #egypt #cairo