For today’s blog I was struggling to sift through the ideas and lessons presented from our visit to Dhavari. We were lead by Mr. Vinod Shetty from ACORN India to observe the waste management and engineering savvy implemented by the people of this slum. During the day Dr. Vyas posed the question, “is social entrepreneurship simply a fad?” The sights of the day and the discussion to wrap up our site visit lead to enticing food for thought.
To begin, Dhavari is the largest slum in Asia and home to 1.5 million people. Though this plot of land is a slum, the people have become extremely efficient when it comes to waste management. In fact, their waste management has become a sustainable industry. Over the past 75 years, the people of Dhavari have built a well-functioning society. They have mini factories that process and recycle every piece of cardboard that is found, they make beautifully embroidered clothing, and they even dabble in the dying industry. There are schools in Dhavari, music classes, and doctor and dentist’s offices.
What then is the problem? It took 75 years to get to this point, won’t they only continue upward with time?
No, and the problem is two-fold.
The first half of the problem: the recycling industry resides in the informal sector; the government does not recognize it on any level. These people are considered squatters on the government’s land. They are shunned by society and must struggle for electricity, water, and proper roads. The government could step in at any moment, flex their muscles, and level Dhavari homes to the ground. To prove residency in Dhavari, at least 15 years of dwelling must be provided. The majority of those in this community do not have documentation, in fact, the majority of the population in Dhavari is men who migrate for work and send money home to their families. Documentation is not a commonality. Other contributing factors include a highly Muslim population within Dhavari, creating cultural tension within a mostly Hindu nation and political corruption.
However, the people of Dhavari have created a system that works, for all intents and purposes this community is sustainable. For example, we met a man who owned his own business recycling cardboard. He "owns" the warehouse where he employs 4-6 men who find discarded cardboard in trash heaps and make it usable once again. These men eat, sleep, and work in the same warehouse. Simply put, sustainability is achieved because these men live in the factory. The owner has worked his way up through his industry and may live elsewhere. This hierarchy is replicated in several industries within Dhavari.
—Here in lies the second half of the problem, these slum dwellers have made a sustainable life, but they are not able to come to maximum scale.
--How do you create a better life and cause social change if you can only earn enough to provide for the next day and the next week?
There are two possible solutions; create a revolution demanding change or find an investor.
In our discussion Dr. Parrish framed the challenge well, “have you had enough? It is only when the answer to this question is yes, will things change.”
Let’s first tackle the idea of revolution. Consider the perspective of exploited members of a society where political corruption is prominent, as well as the Karmic belief that reincarnation could bring riches and intelligence in the next life if no harm is done in this life. These political and cultural barriers and infulences alone pose a major challenge.
Next, let’s tackle the idea of investment for this society. This involves understanding and dissecting the difference between social entrepreneurship and pure enterprise. If the idea was strictly profit an investor could come into the slums, see the workmanship involved in the embroidery industry, market and contract the product, produce profit and in return earn more than was initially invested by paying workers the bare minimum. The government does not regulate these people, and there are no unions—profit would be made. However, the goal is scaling up and making social change to better the lives of these slum dwellers. The progression can be viewed as:
Donor invests capitalà workers are trained in a skillà the equipment required to sustain production in this skill is donated to these workersà more workers become trained and achieve sustainabilityà these workers then re-invest capital into their communities in sectors of health and education.
These workers are (1) given the freedom to continue using the skills learned, independent from the initial investor and (2) they are given the choice as to what to do with their earnings. These two factors are key to successful social entrepreneurship.
*Idea for social change + well formulated business plan à sustainable social venture
**An important caveat remains; if people are going to re-invest they must first be invested in their community. This idea might be lost on a population comprised mostly of male, transient-migrant workers.
The sights of the day and conversations had throughout our site visit, debrief, and final evening meeting brought the challenges and promises of the idea of social entrepreneurship into a new light. I have a feeling the surface has only been scratched…
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