Nesma is 40 and lives in Cairo. Alongside the beauty of the city there is real poverty, and the animals feel it too — cats who were once somebody’s pet are abandoned to the street, to hunger, thirst, illness and the daily fight to survive. Most are never neutered, so the suffering multiplies.

She began feeding the strays in her neighbourhood about eight years ago, and now takes in the ones who cannot make it alone. Every cat goes to the vet, is treated and neutered, and stays with her until it is fully well — many arrive seriously ill and need months to recover. She shares her apartment with 70 rescued cats and rents a second apartment for 70 more, with others still under treatment at the clinic, caring for each one until she can find it a loving forever home.

Her love of cats goes back to childhood, to two kittens named Lucy and Meshmesh that her father and her late sister Suzan gave her — she used to carry them to school in her bag to keep them safe. None of this is possible alone: Nesma is looking for kind people who will sponsor a cat and cover its monthly food costs.