Day 15 - Hope Foundation Mumbai

Jane and I visited a government school where the Hope Foundation has created a tutoring program for at-risk kids (defined as those likely to flunk out of school or be left behind) and built a computer lab for the students. We also visited a separate vocational computer training lab. The programs focus on education, but Joseph Dsouza stressed the critical piece of the puzzle – building motivation and leadership within each student. Most of the students their program reaches to are those with less educated parents and/or those with less parental support from a motivational support and leadership development side. They see that being critical, especially with the children and students they are reaching out to. Hope Foundation worldwide is an international charity that changes lives by harnessing the compassion and commitment of dedicated staff and volunteers to deliver sustainable, high-impact, community-based community-based services to the poor and needy. The India operation's mission is simple: to bring hope to those with no hope.

In the afternoon, we headed to Dharavi – the largest slum in Asia. Inside this slum, there are actual industries - very hard working, mostly men. Some come from rural villages and work and live in the “factory” slum in tiny rooms in poor conditions. We wandered through and saw the recycling industry – fascinating! It’s surprising to see and hear that recycling is all done there because there is trash everywhere! We also learned that there is a method to the madness. In slums, you’ll often see what looks like trash on roofs. Those are actually out there for a purpose – it’s part of the drying process that takes places before the plastic can be crushed and melted to be recycled. They recycle boxes there and create ones that can be used again. They recycle used oil/tin cans, clean them out, reshape, and sell them for usage again. They make paint. They recycle aluminum. They build machinery that they use within the slum and export elsewhere. They produce shoes. They make wallets – last month – they were making Gucci wallets – yes, Gucci. They sew clothing and bags. They manufacture leather – pluck hairs, hang and dry it, etc. They make puff pastries. I’m sure I missed other things they do. All of these “industries” are done in tiny, poorly ventilated rooms. Men are crushing metal without goggles or gloves. Men are melting paint and other toxic things in small rooms converted into furnaces – the ventilation is literally the crack b/w the roof and the side wall. While all of this work is being done, children are playing just outside in the alleys.

Out of respect for the hard-working people and families in Dharavi, I don't have any pictures to share of Dharavi, but I pulled one from the internet. It was an eye opening experience to learn about, visit, and see the slum. Here are a few quotes I pulled from others who have spent time there.

"Ramshackle corrugated tin, plywood, plastic, pukkah bricks, sheets of asbestos, sweat, toil, people and garbage make Dharavi, just like piles of earth, sand, clay and other materials make ant hills. Dharavi and many other slums like it are nothing but human ant colonies built by legions of our urban poor. They are places which are at same time sombre, moving, joyful and interesting .Push and pull factors, bring people from our villages here everyday in search for something better. They settle here much to the neglect of our apathetic eyes. But under the squalor is great spirit and ingenuity. I went looking for this spirit in this place most people refer to as ‘Asia’s largest slum’ but I would prefer to call the ‘Heart of Mumbai’."

Here's a link to this guy's blog who I pulled that quote from. His descriptions and pictures are pretty much what we experienced. http://trivialmatters.blogspot.com/2006/03/shadow-city-look-at-dharavi.html

National Geographic also did a piece on Dharavi as well: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text. They describe it as: "a teeming slum of one million souls, where as many as 18,000 people crowd into a single acre (0.4 hectares). By nightfall, deep inside the maze of lanes too narrow even for the putt-putt of auto rickshaws, the slum is as still as a verdant glade. Once you get accustomed to sharing 300 square feet (28 square meters) of floor with 15 humans and an uncounted number of mice, a strange sense of relaxation sets in—ah, at last a moment to think straight." I grew up with a yard the size of an acre and that still wasn't enough room to kick a ball around on. Sharing it with 17,999 other people? I can't even imagine!

After that, we met up at Esther’s and we all went out for a really nice dinner at Asura (I was feeling a little guilty after having just hung out in the slums; but it was our last night there). It was this totally hidden restaurant from the street, but once you enter, you realize how fabulous this place is. It faces the beach and ocean. ‘twas very nice and delicious.