Namaskar! Tumi kasa aahes? How are you?
Today, we got an early start and took a walk around the neighborhood near our hotel. We saw the famous Taj Hotel and the Gate of India, and got to journal a bit by the water. When we came back, we took a bus to a train that took us to Dharavi, the largest slum area in India. It covers about 420 acres with a population of over one million people. We first walked through the commercial district where we visited an aluminum factory, a plastic recycling factory, and the area where the potters work. Along the way, we walked through the narrow alleyways of the residential neighborhood. This is where Krishna’s organization, Reality Gives, is based. The mission of Reality Goves is to show both sides of Mumbai: the more affluent and tourist-y areas as well as the industrious and thriving production in the slums like Dharavi. We worked alongside students at the local community center learning English and computer skills. As we walked among the residents of Dharavi, we realized how different our connotation of the word “slum” is compared to the reality of what goes on in this community. Krishna let us know that the people of Dharavi suffer most from the lack of clean drinking water and access to decent health care. It’s such a complex ecosystem, that we think it will take a while to fully internalize and comprehend.
When we returned to central Mumbai, we went to the movies and saw a Bollywood film with more montages than we’d ever seen in one movie! The theater was bigger than most in the US, and had reclining seats!
The photos are by Maya.
Tomorrow we leave early for Chinchoti, the village where we will spend the majority of our time, to meet our host families and see our worksite.
Until tomorrow!
Emily and Lucy 
1 comments:
Hi Em!
Post a Comment