Questions on Poverty

My friend Eric asked me: How has seeing extreme poverty changed you?

I could probably say something unlike anything you have ever seen before or could possibly imagine, but there’s more to it. For each person on the trip it was different, and at each slum we visited it was also different. It’s heart breaking, there’s a part of you that just wants to cry out for the people in front of you but there’s this other side thanking God that you’re privileged enough to not have to live this lifestyle. The emotions you feel vary but the reality of the situation remains the same. Seeing extreme poverty to me was eye opening to put into one word. It’s not something you can just read in a textbook and simply understand, you experience it when walking the grounds of filth and trash, you experience it when speaking to the 10 year old boy that has never seen anything outside of the slums of Dharavi, and you experience it

It has changed me to be more humble. You leave not wanting to go out to a nice restaurant or complain about the A/C not working because there in front of you were children and families struggling for basic needs! And when I say struggling I mean actually having to pick through trash and sleeping in shanties or outside no matter what the weather maybe. And some of you reading this may say well there are ghettos in America also that you should go visit, however it is not the same I’d argue that it doesn’t even compare!

And I’ll leave you with this, something I thought about after reviewing my pictures from Dharavi: You can take as many pictures as you want in the slums but the sight is still the same; the pain and poverty still shows through the eyes of the people living here. This is not a site for tourism but a sight to make you realize, realize the truth of the world that for some, has been hidden for far too long.