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23, Foodie, Traveler, Civil Engineer. I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list.
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Day 2
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We met our tour guides at the local train station. The tour was run by reality tours which was a NGO that gives 80% of the tour money back the the Dharavi slums by holding classes for young adults The first crazy experience was the train ride. Quiet at first however just before our stop heaps of locals got on and we had to fight our way off the moving carriage when it arrived. It is also ok to hang outside the carriage while the train is moving since there are no doors.
When we arrived at the slums we were first taken to the industry district which takes all the waste including plastic, aluminum, wood and recycles it. Nearly nothing goes to waste.
The process of recycling each material is very interesting as everything can be washed and changed or melted into something new. Everyone was working so hard too and no one was slacking off.
The work conditions are horrifying, there was one man smoldering aluminum in a closed room with not ppe. I was pretty scared walking through some of the workshops, just waiting for something to fly off and hit me in the face.
But people are so happy. The kids are absolutely adorable, high fiving me as i walk through the narrow alleys.
Poppadums were one of the main sources of income for the women in the Dharavi slums. They were made by hand and then places on baskets to lye out in the sun and dry whilst stray dogs and cats walked around them.
After we discussed our own thoughts on the slum and how we though we could go about changing it. So many long winded discussions, often with very confusing topics.
Overall, The conditions are a lot better than i expected. Apart from the major sanitation issues (and the smell) and health issues that are caused from this, crime is low, people have access to clean water and electricity and the community is just happy.
If anyone is interested in learning more about the Dharavi slums and what it is like from an outsiders perspective, Kevin McCloud does a mini series on his experiance staying there. The following links are for his videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im0tHRs9Bng&feature=youtu.be
When we came back the the ywca we had a talk by a local working for an ngo working on polices to protect the people living in the slums and on the street. We learnt about his fight for a policy to allow street vendors to legally trade.
A short while after dinner a group of us went out for a walk to the gate to India. We didn't realized but there was a concert playing there where we got to see a few song in Hindi. Even though i have no idea what they are saying the language still sounds very beautiful.
Apparently one song was about a drunk India who wouldn't stop falling down and the crowd loved it haha
We kept walking to a few street food stands with chicken kebab type thinks and then followed on to this seedy bar where we spent about 2 hours just talking and drinking beer. The place wasn't too bad but occasionally you got a smell of something very strange...
When we arrived at the slums we were first taken to the industry district which takes all the waste including plastic, aluminum, wood and recycles it. Nearly nothing goes to waste.
The process of recycling each material is very interesting as everything can be washed and changed or melted into something new. Everyone was working so hard too and no one was slacking off.
The work conditions are horrifying, there was one man smoldering aluminum in a closed room with not ppe. I was pretty scared walking through some of the workshops, just waiting for something to fly off and hit me in the face.
But people are so happy. The kids are absolutely adorable, high fiving me as i walk through the narrow alleys.
Poppadums were one of the main sources of income for the women in the Dharavi slums. They were made by hand and then places on baskets to lye out in the sun and dry whilst stray dogs and cats walked around them.
After we discussed our own thoughts on the slum and how we though we could go about changing it. So many long winded discussions, often with very confusing topics.
Overall, The conditions are a lot better than i expected. Apart from the major sanitation issues (and the smell) and health issues that are caused from this, crime is low, people have access to clean water and electricity and the community is just happy.
If anyone is interested in learning more about the Dharavi slums and what it is like from an outsiders perspective, Kevin McCloud does a mini series on his experiance staying there. The following links are for his videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im0tHRs9Bng&feature=youtu.be
When we came back the the ywca we had a talk by a local working for an ngo working on polices to protect the people living in the slums and on the street. We learnt about his fight for a policy to allow street vendors to legally trade.
A short while after dinner a group of us went out for a walk to the gate to India. We didn't realized but there was a concert playing there where we got to see a few song in Hindi. Even though i have no idea what they are saying the language still sounds very beautiful.
Apparently one song was about a drunk India who wouldn't stop falling down and the crowd loved it haha
We kept walking to a few street food stands with chicken kebab type thinks and then followed on to this seedy bar where we spent about 2 hours just talking and drinking beer. The place wasn't too bad but occasionally you got a smell of something very strange...
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