Sanitation is a top priority on President Mohamed Morsi’s agenda, so he suggested at the start of his term to launch a national clean-up campaign titled "A clean country without garbage." Then official statements were issued to indicate the efficiency of relevant executive bodies were raised between 30 and 40 per cent, studies completed to convert garbage into energy, regular garbage collection is underway as well as negotiations with foreign companies working in this field.

But these statements ignored the heart of the issue which is the biggest hurdle for any solution for the garbage issue in Egypt. This is essentially the general mental image of "garbage collectors," their inferior status in the eyes of the Egyptian public and lack of appreciation for their job by the state and society.

I wrote before about a story published on the front page of the Washington Post with a large photograph of Ron Hillyer and  a long feature about his work and life after an elementary school in Washington, DC in the affluent neighbourhood of Tenleytown in the US capital named their biggest hallway have after him.

Hillyer is 55, of which he spent 30 as a janitor in the school that honoured him. The story began when a third grade student asked the headmistress to honour Hillyer – an African American who spent most of his life cleaning the school and collecting the students' and teachers' litter – by naming a hallway after him. The headmistress proposed the idea to teachers and staff and the majority agreed.

Hillyer did not grow up dreaming about the job he ended up doing for most of his life, but the dream of his father, who was a taxi driver, was to send his son to college. Hillyer wanted to become a radio personality or actor but did not get a college degree (although he was accepted at Maryland University) because of the expense. He started his career as a janitor at a school outside Washington before transferring to Janney Elementary School in 1981.

Hillyer regrets not achieving his professional dreams, but added: "There’s nothing wrong with cleaning up, but if you got other dreams and goals, pursue them."

Hillyer was no ordinary custodian; young students trusted him because they were used to seeing him being serious on the job. He would tell the children about the African Americans' civil rights struggle of the '60s and '70s. 

The Washington Post, a leading global newspaper, retold Hillyer’s life and work story in detail – which is something that should serve as a lesson for Egyptian press and media. Although our press has accomplished a lot in terms of freedom of political expression, it has yet to break social barriers and continues to move as a herd when choosing news stories.

The press has not yet dared to pick alternative subjects that raise the value of the average citizen and spotlight ideals we are in dire need of – most notably the merits of honourable professions irrespective of society’s inferior and jaundiced view of them.

The issue of filth in Egypt is more serious than the mountains of garbage in both poor and affluent neighbourhoods; it is linked to the perception of the value of cleanliness and those working in this sector.

Egyptian society views workers in the sanitation sector as inferior and deal with them as if they were beggars. In the US, the average income of workers in this sector is close to $3,000 a month and increases with years of experience. This is equal to the average income of fresh graduates, and thus no one gives charity to a janitor while he is on the job and he does not expect it.

In Japan, workers in the industry are called "health and cleanliness engineers" because they are responsible for the health of the city and must pass several tests to ascertain their health and mental capacity to do the job.

Societies are divided into various categories when it comes to cleanliness. At the top are those where one cannot imagine citizens throwing a piece of paper or cigarette on the street, and this is accompanied with very high respect for those working in the cleaning sector. Second, are countries where the municipality goes out at night to collect what thoughtless residents throw out during the day, and these countries are dirty in the morning but clean at night.

Egypt, unfortunately, is in the third category where citizens throw out their garbage on the street and no one collects it, neither during the night or the day. This causes the spread of disease and epidemics.

In these countries, those working in the cleaning sector cannot make ends meet and rely on charity for income.

I often talk with American friends after they return from Egypt and they can’t stop praising Egypt’s exclusive beauty and Cairo’s uniqueness in comparison to other world cities. But they all reticently mention that despite Cairo’s greatness, it remains a very dirty city which is especially surprising because the homes they visited were spotless.

If Hillyer were Egyptian, he would have lived on the periphery, begging for his daily livelihood and died in a profession society has deemed inferior. His sons would also see the same fate.

But Ron Hillyer in the US retired with pride for what he contributed to his community and after his only daughter enrolled as a student at the prominent George Washington University in the US capital.

The writer can be reached via email at [email protected] or via Twitter at @ElmenshawyM