Yesterday was a long day. It felt even longer since it was my first day back from being sick. A lot of people talk about the overwhelming smell in the slums, but for me, the worst part was looking at the ground and seeing what I was stepping in. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the slum areas since it would attract too much attention, but I did manage to take a few from the outside. We first met with an organization called SNEHA (http://www.snehamumbai.org/). This is a group of visionary men and women who work to improve the livelihoods of everyone in the Mumbai slums, but especially women and children. They have it right, you have to work from inside the community. This is something that we still do not quite understand at home. They are also the most patient people in waiting to see results. At home, if an organization does not show progress in a few months their funding supply drops. It has taken SNEHA over ten years to find small successes in such big problems. What I was most impressed with was the optimism of each of the women that spoke to us. They love every minute of their work, even when it is difficult. I just do not see this same kind of attitude in the US.
We split into groups and visited different sites in the Daravi slum. My group went to a day care center which cares for children who are severely or moderately malnourished. There were seven children in a small room. The one boy cried the entire time we were there and the girls sat quietly. They were all so beautiful, but so small. Their heads were normal size, but the rest of their bodies so thin that many of them did not have the energy to do more than sit on the ground. The day care keeps each child for about two months feeding them a special diet until their weight has reached a normal point. They all waved goodbye as we left.
We split into groups and visited different sites in the Daravi slum. My group went to a day care center which cares for children who are severely or moderately malnourished. There were seven children in a small room. The one boy cried the entire time we were there and the girls sat quietly. They were all so beautiful, but so small. Their heads were normal size, but the rest of their bodies so thin that many of them did not have the energy to do more than sit on the ground. The day care keeps each child for about two months feeding them a special diet until their weight has reached a normal point. They all waved goodbye as we left.
As a group we went with SNEHA to one of the worst places I have ever seen. This slum was not even a slum, it was an open trash and sewage dump that happened to have people living in it. Flies are everywhere and children run around without shoes, although even shoes do not help here. A group of boys started following us around asking our names and even playing music on a phone in hopes that we would dance.
We ended our day with a trip to the Family Planning Association of India, a partner of the International Planned Parenthood association. India is still a male dominated society, so women do not have a choice in how many children they have or when they have them. In some cases women seek out abortions in unsafe locations leaving them permanently injured. FPA of India works to solve these problems by offering safe abortions, contraceptives and other services free of charge. They work with youth to teach them early about the importance of family planning, as many girls in India are still married before the age of 18. We met a doctor who worked with FPA for 40 years and now works as a volunteer. There are men in India who support women and their rights, but it was nice to hear one in person who is so passionate about making sure women are treated as an equal partner in India.
I am glad I made myself get up and go yesterday. It was something that I needed to see but hope to never see again. The problems facing India are too big for the government to deal with. The NGO sector is so important to the
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