Borivli is a suburban area located approximately 18km from Mumbai city.
Slums seem to be an economic necessity in India and although not legally recognized they become validated over time. After hearing more about slums from Vasu, its clear that they aren't exempt from the politics and complexities of being a community.
We are greeted but Tandur and Sonal, who are also part of the Oasis team and work in the slum community in Borivli - lane 1 to be exact. Here, the slum is divided into lanes and numbered as such, a pseudo address for those who inhabit them. 40 lanes, 10,000 people. Within the lanes there are even smaller alleyways which would seem to be invisible if you weren't made aware of them, here people take up residence in whatever space they can find. Here for the first time I notice a distinct smell. A smell you would expect in a place of poor hygiene and abundance of garbage. It's also a pungent reminder of the realities of slums and poverty.
We stop in front of a small space half way down lane 1. It's shielded by a thin makeshift curtain which, when peeled back reveals a small group of children, all not much older than 3. It's a day care class in progress, we'd walked in somewhere between c is for cat and 2 apples in a market.
Rosie is also with oasis and coordinates the class for the day care. By day care I mean about 10 children crammed in a room no bigger then probably your bathrooms at home. It's labelled as a day care but it's really a protection mechanism for children who would otherwise be so vulnerable to the realities of kidnapping which occurs as often as you would take a sip of water in a single day. In fact, statistics show that a women or child goes missing every 7 minutes in India.
We take a walk down the lane and it's evident the extent of poverty that exists in these slums. But life goes on, children in school uniform skip joyfully down the lane, hand in hand, I sense the strong sense of community which takes me back to Tijuana and Delmas - two other communities we have participated in community developments - That's the difference in these parts of the world to Australia, the poor are never lonely.
The team in Borivli also provide health assistance to 15 families affected by HIV and support in breaking down barrriers and remove stigma to enable integration in society.
Sonal advises Carolyn and I that when we come back in August it is monsoon season in India and Borivli will look different as the grounds rise with water and with this so does the underground waste. Homes get flooded but she says with grace that the community adapt to each climate and again, life goes on.
We continue to listen and it quickly becomes evident that our journey here will be full of conversations, as each person we meet and every community we visit will have their own unique story.
For now we say goodbye and walk out of lane 1 onto the busy road, the labyrinth of poverty now behind me.
For your reference...
http://www.oasisindia.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/asia/in-indian-slum-misery-work-politics-and-hope.html?_r=2&hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/books/review/katherine-boos-behind-the-beautiful-forevers-explores-a-mumbai-slum.html?pagewanted=all
Slums seem to be an economic necessity in India and although not legally recognized they become validated over time. After hearing more about slums from Vasu, its clear that they aren't exempt from the politics and complexities of being a community.
We are greeted but Tandur and Sonal, who are also part of the Oasis team and work in the slum community in Borivli - lane 1 to be exact. Here, the slum is divided into lanes and numbered as such, a pseudo address for those who inhabit them. 40 lanes, 10,000 people. Within the lanes there are even smaller alleyways which would seem to be invisible if you weren't made aware of them, here people take up residence in whatever space they can find. Here for the first time I notice a distinct smell. A smell you would expect in a place of poor hygiene and abundance of garbage. It's also a pungent reminder of the realities of slums and poverty.
We stop in front of a small space half way down lane 1. It's shielded by a thin makeshift curtain which, when peeled back reveals a small group of children, all not much older than 3. It's a day care class in progress, we'd walked in somewhere between c is for cat and 2 apples in a market.
Rosie is also with oasis and coordinates the class for the day care. By day care I mean about 10 children crammed in a room no bigger then probably your bathrooms at home. It's labelled as a day care but it's really a protection mechanism for children who would otherwise be so vulnerable to the realities of kidnapping which occurs as often as you would take a sip of water in a single day. In fact, statistics show that a women or child goes missing every 7 minutes in India.
We take a walk down the lane and it's evident the extent of poverty that exists in these slums. But life goes on, children in school uniform skip joyfully down the lane, hand in hand, I sense the strong sense of community which takes me back to Tijuana and Delmas - two other communities we have participated in community developments - That's the difference in these parts of the world to Australia, the poor are never lonely.
The team in Borivli also provide health assistance to 15 families affected by HIV and support in breaking down barrriers and remove stigma to enable integration in society.
Sonal advises Carolyn and I that when we come back in August it is monsoon season in India and Borivli will look different as the grounds rise with water and with this so does the underground waste. Homes get flooded but she says with grace that the community adapt to each climate and again, life goes on.
We continue to listen and it quickly becomes evident that our journey here will be full of conversations, as each person we meet and every community we visit will have their own unique story.
For now we say goodbye and walk out of lane 1 onto the busy road, the labyrinth of poverty now behind me.
For your reference...
http://www.oasisindia.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/world/asia/in-indian-slum-misery-work-politics-and-hope.html?_r=2&hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/books/review/katherine-boos-behind-the-beautiful-forevers-explores-a-mumbai-slum.html?pagewanted=all
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