For our investigation in the North of India, some of us decided to try to get close to some of the poorest people in India – the residents of the slums. Our wish was to spend at least one night in the slum, which turned out to be too difficult. But still we learned a lot about the living conditions for a few of the more than 300 million people in India, living below the poverty line.
We visited several different kind of slum areas. I will now share with you some photos and experiences from the most poor and extreme area we visited, Daya Basti. This slum has about 200.000 inhabitants. It’s situated next to the railway, which is practical because the area is public, and because the rails can be used as toilet!
Surrender, a young Indian lawyer whom we met by luck, came with us to Daya Basti as our guide. Without him we would not have managed to get so close to the people. As soon as we arrived, we were surrounded by hundreds of people, young and old, interested in the strange visitors. Surrender agreed with two young men from the slum, to help showing us around and controlling the crowds and I believe this was a necessary help.
I have seen poverty in many parts of the world, but never before anything like Daya Basti. Here families of 7-20 people live in houses with 1-2 rooms. There is no space between the “houses” built from anytyhing you can find or imagine. The very narrow “streets” are filled with rubbish and sewage, and I don’t even dare to think about what the place is like during the months of monsoon!
We visited many people in their homes, and heard about their lives. I could tell lots of stories which touched me deepely, but don’t have time for that now. I will pick a few examples.
The tailor, whom we met in his 2 square meter big workshop, has a wife and 5 children. They have built a small house on top of his work shop. He earns 3.000 rupees/month, and we calculated that with his family of 7 people, this means that they have to survive with 1/3 of the poverty line amount!
The electrician we met, earns about the double amount – 6.000 rupees/month. His house consisted of one room, which was bigger than any other house we saw (maybe 20 square meters). He even had light and a TV. We thought that finally we found a family who were a bit better off… until he told us that he is providing for 15 people who live in his house!
Getting a little glimpse into their and other peoples lives was mainly a very sad experience. Noone in the world should have to live like this! Especially the thousands of children, of which only 1/4 go to school and all the rest have to work to support their families.
But visting the slums also taught us about peoples creativity, when it comes to surviving. The slum people have basically all come from the rural areas, some recently but many generations ago. They have been forced to leave their homes, because of lack of other ways of making a living, when harvest goes wrong for different reasons. In the city, the opportunities are many, and the people use them to the maximum. Out of nothing, they can create a small business.
A man with a combe and siccors is a hair dressor. Thousands make their money from the garbage they pick in the streets, sort and then sell. Contractors give people work they can do in their homes for very small money, such as putting stickers on plastic things. Anything can be sold in the streets.
So in the city a family father can find a way to provide for his family and feed his children. But…. he has to compromise when it comes to the quality of life on so many other areas. With 200.000 people squezed into a very small area without any sanitation, you can only imagine the health situation! The air is polluted. The noice is constant and almost unbarable. There is no space for the children to play and develop. So when we asked people, whould they leave the slum if they could, the ALL said of course!
I could tell you a lot more about our experiences in the slums, and maybe I will later… but now I will stop and share with you a few photos.
