Colored Girl In a Strange Land: Urban Slum Visit (Day 8)

Namaste!!!

Today was sort of cold as first but as the sun came out, it was wonderful. We had our Hindi lesson in the morning and I am very happy to be recapping my basic Hindi lessons.

Today we visited a slum and I accidentally stepped in questionable muck. My shoes didn’t smell so good afterward but nothing some tissue and anti bacterial wipes couldn’t fix.

I might sound ridiculous for mentioning that first but it’s nice for you to keep in mind that being careful of wear you step in India is a good tip to keep handy.

Overall, we learned about agalwadi’s??? and an international organization that is similar to if not the same as “Save the Children” Indian chapter. They help the agalwadi local women become ambassadors that help empower women and children within the slums to stay healthy and strive for an education. They were truly inspiring. They help families who are expecting think of future goals for their children like, how much income do they [families] currently earn. By earning this, can they afford private school education? If so, for how long? If they wish for this to be long term, can they really support this (realistically)?

It is nice that they help the people see the practicality of raising a family and supplying education. Due to government initiatives, each child is provided a mid day meal during recess, free uniform and stationary. They are additionally given a packet of this wheat, which is child friendly, that they can mix in there food. They provide this for the children they keep statistics of. If the children are malnourished, and shows in the red part of their data chart, then they receive double portions. If the child shows in the yellow part of the data chart then the malnourishment requires medical intervention and as exceeded the basic cases the program helps.

Today we went to some of the schools and met some of the children. They were simply adorable and practiced some poems for us. A lot of them were shy. One of our professors, Abid ji revealed that he worked with children for 12 years. This was very much apparent since he got a long so well with the kids. He picked them up and spoke to them. It was a sight! Below i've included some pictures from the visit.

Kids attending school and curious about us

A little boy (along with his class) eagerly
demonstrating a song they learned in school.

More beautiful children

Walking down a road in the slum

Fading food,number and animal charts in the small classroom.

The children's midday meal daal (lentil soup) and rice.

We arrived when they were just about to eat
so they were really hungry when I took this picture.

Little boy on is way home with his midday meal.

Abidji and baby

A happy mother willingly showing
us her beautiful baby.

One of the org workers showing us a baby.

Curious kid

A curious boy looking at the foreigners.

A baby!!! <3

Our professor asking who wants to hold the baby?

Tobias (classmate) does!

At the end of our program we have an Independent Study Project or (ISP) in which we are supposed to venture off into India and complete a 30 page paper of the topic of our choice and I am really excited about it. Although, I have no clue about what it will be on, it is a wonderful once in a lifetime experience to have studied, and carried research out in India. I want to conduct interviews and address issues that people overlook. I knew that maternity health is a topic of strong interest but I still have no clue of what I will specifically conduct my research on.

In our program, they say that even if you come into the program with one idea, it will most likely change by the time ISP period comes. However, since this is a true passion of mine, I truly doubt this. I am so happy J

Even though India’s population is 1.21 billion and still going strong, 2 million people are in slums. This is a lot for a country containing a population more than the United States on less land than the United States. It is an interesting fact. Another interesting fact is that the government has a law that gives children ages 0-14 the right to education. Unfortunately the monitoring and enforcement is still an on going effort. Whenever I hear statistics on reports such as these, I think of how so many children in the United States do not wish to have an education or take it for granted yet young people in various countries can only dream of being given the opportunity to attend a school and reap the benefits of a good education.

Another interesting topic/ method the NGO pointed out is that when it comes to the slums of India, they consider the fact that people are for the most part, illiterate, they simply do not understand what Vitamin A,B, C, etc is. Because of this, when explaining nutritional value to mothers and the community, they associate the nutritional benefits with colors (rang= color). For example, there is Vitamin A in carrots and they help your eyesight. So by telling mothers when they see carrots or orange they can improve their eyesight or in the case of Oranges get energy through the vitamin C. Every bit of effort counts and I loved the fact that the NGO really pays attention to and addresses the issues of the slum.

Additionally, for those who do not know, Indian society is structured in a way that if a woman and man are in public, they are to behave a certain way. Even if they are married, they do not show PDA (public display of affection). These type of behaviors are not associated with ‘well to do’ women. Therefore, if some of you are wondering about this program and how it works in congruence wit Indian society, little children attend classes and play with together. The program noted that this is not a stressed type of aspect from India society. Within the program, the children are allowed to be themselves and of course closer to their coming of age, they are taught cultural etiquette.

I find this to be a very efficient way of happiness for these children. It definitely gives them a sense of hope.

I think I’ll stop babbling on about this but if any of you want to know more about this organization or what to know how you can donate or help, please let me know J

Of course I had to get pictures. I wanted to really remember what I saw. I did not do this just to say I did this but to really be grateful for all I have. The women, families and beautiful babies that I saw today were adorable and I wish I could impact their worlds even more positively than the NGO has.

One of the saddest things to point out is that although the slum has been around for about 20 years, the government or the company that actually owns the land can come and demolish the homes of these many families. It is possible that I and those from my program, have probably walked places in Delhi that used to be home to many families.

Alright well I will put a few more pictures from the visit. I apologize for the organization of the photos. My computer was not cooperating with me. Do not hesitate to comment below or email me with questions, comment,etc.

Peace be with you all.