Taking on the slums

This week was our first week in the slums. I’ve heard the term slum used in the states before when referring to something that isn’t very nice or when talking about an apartment or a room.  In India there are different levels of poverty. Some live on the streets, some live at work, some live in tin shacks, and the lucky live in apartments and houses. In India, a slum is a place where there is overcrowding, lack of sanitation, toilets, and access to things we consider to be part of civilization. One realizes what poor means and what the term slum refers to  after visiting a slum in India and I can tell you that I have never in my life seen the level of extreme poverty and the lack of resources needed to survive. I don’t know how so many people can survive living in the conditions I am about to discuss.  In my previous post I mentioned Dharavi slum which is a commercial slum. Dharvi slum seemed to provide a better quality of life compared to the slum we will be working in for the next few months.



Outside of Kalwa Train Station

 Kalwa slum is our slum. I call it our slum because we will be spending the majority of our time there.  I also call it our slum because having been there for only a few days, I already feel a part of the community in Kalwa.  Each day we are greeted by numerous children who are pleased that we are there. Before entering the slum, we were given sensitivity training and to mentally prepare for the conditions we were going to be exposed to.  I was nervous on the morning of the first day we entered the slums. I never grew up with poverty and I didn’t really know what poverty was. In the states poverty is relative.  I had been told of the conditions in Kalwa but I didn’t know what to expect.

REAP office

Every morning Monday-Friday we wake up at 7am to catch an 8am train to Kalwa. The train ride is about 40 minutes north of Bycalla which is the neighborhood we live in.  The trains are extremely crowded. You cannot move inside the trains because there are too many people cramped into one car. The train system here in Mumbai is the most commonly used method of transportation and each morning hundreds of thousands of people use the train for their morning commutes. The trains do not have doors and often people will hang outside of the cars, sit on the roofs, and they will jump into the cars as the train is leaving the station. Having taken the metro in D.C. several times, I have learned that life is more valuable than getting onto an overcrowded train and I always wait for another one to arrive. Luckily, we travel in the opposite direction of rush hour going to the slum so we have plenty of space in our train.  At least 3 people are killed each day here in Mumbai from train incidents. We always make sure we push ourselves into the center of the train so that we don’t risk falling out. Trying to sleep on the train is a lost cause due to the loud noise of the tracks and the cramped cars and I was happy to finally arrive at Kalwa station. We are accompanied by 2 security guards and 2 GPM staff each day in the slum. The security guards work for the Indian Jewish Security. They are both trained in Israel which is very comforting.

 

Kalwa Slum

When we arrived in Kalwa we headed over to the REAP office to help prepare meals for the children in the classes we will be teaching in. REAP is an initiative that allows women in the slums to cook healthy meals for the children in the classrooms.  These women work 10-12 hours each day preparing meals for these kids. The women get paid for cooking the meals.  Children are often malnourished in the slums due to lack of nutritious food and lack of food in general. Providing them with one healthy meal per day is a huge deal. Not only does the meal provide nutrious value which is needed for development, but it also encourages the children and parents to attend school. Children are motivated to come to school if they know they will get a free meal and the parents see this as an advantage. Some parents force their children to work and not go to school to make ends meet. Our hope is that with REAP and our teaching initiative we will motivate more children to attend school and parents will see the value of education.

Helping REAP women prepare lunches for children

After helping REAP, we headed over to the slums to tour the classrooms. Walking through the slums was not easy both physically and mentally.  Entering the slums was probably the most challenging part.  At the entrance there are piles of garbage everywhere and I mean everywhere. Garbage is burned to make more room as there are no dumpsters and no garbage trucks available.  It looks like a landfill. In addition, there are wild animals such as pigs and goats rummaging through feces and the garbage. There are no toilets in the slums so those who live there must use the bathroom outside in the open.  A dusty old mattress is used as a gymnastics mat for the children to play on. Watching unclothed children having to use the bathroom outside with no sanitation was heartbreaking for me.  After walking through the beginning of the slum, we met our first classroom.  Homes are used for the classrooms and they do not have A/C or lighting. They are very cramped and only have a chalkboard and a clock available to use. 

Child playing in the slum

The classes are a mix of all ages so we must develop lesson plans that are simple enough for all of the children to understand. The reactions of the children when they met us was incredibly heartwarming. As we entered the first class the children stood up to greet us saying “Good Morning Teacher!” These children have nothing in the slums and for foreigners to interact with them and to teach them is a huge deal. The children have something to look forward to when we visit them every day. All of the children are eager to learn and we inspire them to continue to learn. I was so impressed with their level of knowledge. Many of them know all of the numbers, the alphabet, and can carry on basic conversations in English.

One of our classrooms

 Some of the children are sickly and it is evident that they are lacking nutrition. Many of them are stunted and weak and the fact that they dress up formally for school and make an effort to come each day no matter how bad they feel is truly inspiring. The first day we played introductory name games with the children to break the ice. The last activity we did with the children involved having them draw three things that were important to them. Many of the children drew flowers, fruits, houses, and stick figures. These children are incredibly artistic and I was very impressed with their artistic abilities.  My partner Emily and I will be developing a curriculum that teaches the children the world continents. We feel that it is important for them to learn about different parts of the world so that they understand there is life outside the slums and that the world has so much to offer outside the slums.

One of our student's drawings

I love the children in both of our classrooms. They are so motivated to learn and so inspired simply by our presence. The conditions in the slum are terrible and it’s difficult to describe how bad it is without seeing it firsthand. However, walking from the slums to the classrooms can be compared to walking through a rain storm and seeing sunlight in the distance. The children’s excitement to learn and to be with us overshadows the darkness of the slum and each morning I wake up thinking about the children and how much of an impact we will have on them.

Teaching the children about continents

The hardest part of this project I think will be facing the reality of leaving the children at the end of the program. I know we will become very close with them and they will want us to continue teaching them. My hope is that we will make a lasting impression on them and that we will inspire them to continue to learn. A little knowledge can go a long way and if these kids can learn about different parts of the world than maybe one day they can see the brighter side of the world, outside the slums. Well, I can write a book about the slums, but I guess I will end on this note. Working in the slums has made me feel so grateful for what I have back at home. We really have it made in the USA, and being here in India has made me understand why everyone wants to come to the USA.  Life is very difficult here, and people seem to just scrape by the survival line. Interacting with the people in the slums has made me really appreciate the simple things in life and has opened my eyes to the meaning of a real community.  Stay tuned for future blog posts.

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