Mumbai Day 6- Govandi Dumping Ground

Hello from Mumbai day 6!
Today we have been to Govandi...Govandi was also on the TV show that channel four did- it was the dumping ground where people ratch through the rubbish to find things that they can sell on or make things out of. The morning was pretty rough at first, there were flies absoutely everywhere and it was disgusting!! There are slums on the opposite side of the road to the dumping ground and they are the worst we have seen so far. The smells were really bad and many people didnt seem to make any effort to stay clean. This may have been made worse by the fact that the monsoon was a bit crazy today- it has rained constantly!! We went into the Pratham office and met some of the people working there..again there were other activities going on there, mostly adults learning new skills! Claire used a proper Indian toilet (hole in the ground) again today (she used one yesterday too)! Lisa wussed out both times!! Then we went to a couple of the schools that are dotted around Govandi Slums. The first was the drop in centre where parents can voluntarily drop their children off...they are taught by two women in a tiny little room- the main purpose there is to bring children up to the educational standard they should be at for their age so that they can go to the main school. The drop in centre was a tiny room with a metal shutter that pulled down for the door..it was absolutely full of flies- everywhere, crawling on the children, on the floor, on us....it was awful! They dont seem to notice the flies though. The kids were reading and playing games like ludo on the oldest looking boards we'd ever seen! After that we went to a school which has worked to free children from child labour- it was run by a different organisation. The school was up a really tall ladder (a bit like the treehouse type building from the other day!) as you can imagine Lisa wasnt too happy climbing up so high- so scared of heights!!! The school was really good, and they were teaching them all kinds of indian languages as well as english! They were all drawing posters of the Indian flag as independence day is in August. The last school we went to was the big elementary school but we didnt get to see much of it as the morning classes had finished. what we did see looked like the school had been flooded out! there was water everywhere! The kids were really excited to see us, which was a bit of a contrast to the rest of Govandi as they all seemed quite wary of us! We think it might be because of the dumping ground- maybe they were afraid of people judging them for collecting rubbish off it.
In the afternoon we went to another adult education centre which specialised in beauty- they did hair, make up and henna! There were some lovely girls/women there and they did some henna tattoos on us and Natski! They were all so talented but apparently there isnt much appreciation for it as it isnt considered a valuable skill. We're going to try and visit them again before we come home, and hopefully get our hair and makeup done next time! We tried to give them some money for our gorgeous henna, but they wouldnt take anything- they said they did it out of the love of their hearts as we were their guests! They were so lovely! Next time we go we're gonna try and take them some of our hair accessories- apparently they love kirby grips!! When we were leaving it was absolutely pouring down- the streets in the slums had literally turned to rivers (cockermouth main street stylee but not as deep!!) we had to wade out of the slums in it (trying to block out thoughts of what might be in the water and how dirty it was!!!!) the girls from the adult ed place helped us to find rickshaws to get back to the train station which was really nice of them considering they got soaked in the process! One of them (who is wearing the bright pink outfit in the pictures) was really bubbly and constantly cracking jokes (that we didnt understand!) and when we went to get a rickshaw she had to put on another outfit over the top. It turned out she was Sihk so she had to change into the full black outfit that covers everything except the eyes! It was really bizzare and completely changed how we view the women wearing those outfits- she was so friendly- it just shows that you cant judge people by what they wear- even thought the outfits look intimidating, to them its just something they have to do in public! Claire hasnt had much luck with Rickshaws today- our one this morning broke down and he had to push it along to get it to start!! Then the one back to the train station that her and Natski were in broke down completely so she had to jump into Lisa and Ruchitas- a bit of a squeeze with four of us and completely illegal!!! By the time we got back to our hotel we were soaked and filthy! So tonight we're having Macaroni Cheese in bed curtesy of room service while watching gossip girl on the one american channel we've found! (Thats after we had very long hot showers!!) Looking forward to our day of shopping tomorrow!
Love Lisa and Claire xxxx

Dharavi Slums and Shopping...what a contrast!!

Hey guys!
Well its day five of our adventure in India! Had such a good day! This morning we headed down to the centre of Mumbai to the Pratham Office as we were supposed to meet Kishor, but he was sick so we had a change of plans last minute! Instead Ruchita took us to Dharavi- the slums that were on the tv show a few months back! Anyone who watched it will know how crazy it looked...but nothing could have prepared us for the smells/sights/sounds and the reactions of everyone! We cannot believe that anyone can live in an environment like it and not realise how dirty it is! (dirty being a major understatement!!) We had to cross the road from the train station to the slums which was a near death experience in itself (a road as wide as a dual carriage way complete with bikes/rickshaws/lorrys/taxis/cars all driving wherever the hell they wanted and us 3 trying to get across -road crossings dont appear to exist here and even if they did no one would pay attention to them!!) We got the usual responses from ppl as we walked through- people either love us or hate us! We headed for the Pratham building- next to the school and it has 3 purposes- pratham, a nursery and an adult ed building where adults can learn skills to enable them to work eg working a sewing machine etc! We had everything that Pratham do there explained to us- they do the usual stuff that we had previously learned about -health/education/child labour rescue. they also work with the disabled children that live there- disabilities range from mental handicaps to amputees.
Then we went to explore the slums....we met some of the children who were absolutely gorgeous! They followed us all around the slums- we felt like the pied piper...at one point there was about 20 kids behind us!! One little girl kept copying everything claire did- when claire put a hand on her hip she did etc it was so funny! Claire taught her to catch kisses when they were blown as well because she kept blowing us kisses! The school children were going crazy when they saw us, they all gathered around and were shouting and wooping it was really funny! Theres a gorgeous photo of them all in their uniforms- once we'd taken it they all kept pushing and shoving each other trying to see it on the camera! We also went into some of the factories in the slums and saw some success cases where pratham has helped make them non-child labour factories "green zones" which was really interesting! The only downside was they were upstairs so we had to climb the ladders...really high and not good for lisa who doesnt like hights!!! After we'd finished at the slums Ruchita took us shopping to Bhandra! There was a mixture of shops and market stalls and we bought some gorgeous jewellery! Then we headed for MacDonalds for dinner- I know shock horror lisa ate a macdonalds meal! Claire was VERY happy!!!! We think we might head back to Bhandra on our day off on Sunday for some more shopping and we'll definately be taking more money! stuff is so cheap but theres so much to buy- gorgeous sandals/jewellery/belts/tunic tops etc etc!! Bring on Sunday!
Tomorrow we're heading to Govandi to the dumping ground (as seen on the programme!) should be interesting/disgusting sights!!
missing you all but having a blast,
love lisa and claire xxx

Hello from Mumbai day four!
Today we had a big breakfast to avoid any repeats of feeling faint/sick on the train like Tuesday- the hotel got us proper baked beans in specially so we had beans on toast! (Lisa and Claire = very happy!!) Then we headed off to the train station via rickshaw! We got the train to Raey Road and met Ruchrita and a japanese student who is also working with Pratham called Natski! Then we met Rita who helped us find our way to the Daru Khana Child Rights Desk. The Desk is essentially a few chairs under a canopy right in the middle of some slums! The slums werent as bad as many that we have seen so far though- the smell wasnt too bad and the buildings seemed quite well constructed and looked after! Once again we were the object of many stares and comments...this time we had Natksi to share the stares with us though! We went to a little cafe and Natski, Ruchrita and Rita had some drinks called Lassi and Charr...charr was a spicy yoghurt/milk type drink and Lassi was a sweet yoghurt/milk type drink! We met the women who worked at the desk and learnt a bit about what they do...then they took us out amongst the dwellings to visit some of the mini factories that there are in some of the buildings- laundrettes/leather factories etc. we were looking for children who were working so that Ruchrita and her colleagues could talk to the children and the employers and try to convince them that it would be best if the children didnt work and they went to school instead. Some employers were more open to discussing it, and said they would give the children the option. Others got very angry and told numerous lies about the children. Ruchrita usually ended up shouting at the employers, and things got a little bit heated! One little boy ended up in tears- he was torn between listening to his boss and listening to the Pratham staff. We then visited a 'house' of one of the women, who lived with her husband and two children. Their daughter has special needs and Pratham has helped the family to cope- providing support and putting them in contact with a special needs camp. The little girl was called Bhablna and she was 6 years old but only looked about 3!! It was fascinating seeing how people cope with disabilities in this environment, and seeing inside a family 'home'. The 'house' was about the size of a utility room from our houses it was about a metre by a metre square if that!...it seems unbelievable that 4 people sleep/eat/wash/live in such a small space!
While we were walking around Daru Khana we saw a huge variety of sights- one man was sat having a bath in a huge muddy puddle! There were children in school uniforms on their way to/from school, children with no clothes on running around in the lanes/cats sunbathing on roofs and catching mice/cows grazing on piles of rubbish/ dogs sleeping in the street/ goats wandering around/ chickens in coops directly under the counter where eggs were being sold! We should also mention that Daru Khana has a 'main street' running through the middle of it, where there are many different 'shops' and stalls which are beneath family shacks! While we were there we even saw a few barbers shops complete with proper barber chairs and mirrors!!! we also saw a 'doctors surgery', once again this was in one of the shack stalls!! There were also a few school buildings along the main street where children were taught sitting on the floor in dark looking rooms, with loads of children to one teacher! We had lunch in a room above one of the shacks, which involved climbing up a ladder (going up was fine, coming back down another matter!!) It was like having lunch in a tree house!! after lunch a grandmother and her grandson came up to the childs rights desk- the grandmother wanted to sign her grandson up for some time at the shelters, as she had to work and she needed someone to be there for him while she worked! The rain was torrential this afternoon, so on our way back to the hotel we got soaked which just added to how disgusting we felt after a hot sticky day in the slums!! We got showered asap after we got in and then has a siesta! we've just been down to the hotel restaurant and forced ourselves to eat a bowl of soup- we're struggling to eat so late at night and with such limited menu choices! We feel a bit isolated out in Panvel...there is literally nothing here, so we have no other restaurant options or even shops to have a wander too. Hopefully things will improve!!!
Night guys,
love lisa and claire xxx

day 3!

Hello from Mumbai day 3!
Today we had the day to ourselves so we've spent the day recovering from the last couple of days! We headed out of the hotel to explore the area that we are staying in!There's not much to be honest...a few shack type shops, some car rental places, another hotel and then a lot of rundown apartment blocks! Further up the road there is also some slums complete with chickens, dogs and pigs! (see pics)
We were hassled the whole way..complete with wolf whistling, car horns blaring and the occasional comment in broken english! Some boys accosted us and demanded to know where we were from- the options being australia or usa (apparently the only 2 places they knew about!) they took some photos of us so they could brag to their friends and then ran back off into the slums! (we still dont understand how they had a mobile when they live in a shack with no electricity to charge it with and no money to pay for it with!!) we carried on exploring- we saw a goat- lisa came out with a classic; “why is that dog so funny looking!?”! We also saw some tiny little puppys which were gorgeous! Cant believe the way dogs are treated over here; most live on the streets living on scraps they can find...our dogs dont realise how lucky they are! we've spent the afternoon looking through our guidebooks trying to plan some trips off for any days we have free- we will go stir crazy if we have to spend any more time in this hotel than necessary!! Tomorrow we're heading to the child desk which should be interesting...got to brave the trains again but this time at least we know which carriage to use!! speak soon lots of love lisa and claire xxx

hey guys!
Well, we have arrived in Mumbai! We arrived yesterday at stupid o'clock in the morning after a very long flight! we then had to get a taxi to our hotel which was an experience in itself! as we were driving through the streets we got to see some of the sights of mumbai- first impressions were jaw dropping and not in a good way! roads are like building sites but the buildings are ruins!we slept all morning and then met with Christine who works with Pratham! she told us what we would be doing for the rest of the day and on Tuesday, and she told us about the work Pratham does! we then headed out to the girls residential shelter with Rupert (Ruchrita) whos name we couldnt remember for most of the day so claire nicknamed her rupert! we got a rickshaw out to the shelter which was a bit of an experience! its a 3 wheeled bike/car with a roof over it! they drive wherever the hell they want on the road and the road can turn from perfectly fine to pot holed building site! the rickshaws cost next to nothing to get around (we havnt paid more than 30 rupees which is about 30p!!! it was lovely to meet some more of the staff and to be introduced to some of the girls...until a cockroach ran over lisa's foot!! The girls all introduced themselves in english but that was about all they could manage so they just smiled a lot at us after that!! Then we headed back to the hotel for a siesta and dinner! Obviously after travelling all the way to India claires first meal of choice was of course chinese chicken chow mein!!! there's no chance she will be braving any curries after seeing lisa's face when eating a 'mild' tikka masala! Today we had to bravely venture to the other side of mumbai- we are staying in Panvel in New Mumbai, which is the other side of the sea inlet! Today we went all the way down to the bottom of Mumbai to Chhatrrapati Shivaji Terminus! This involved us travelling in a rickshaw, then train and then taxi! as u can imagine it must have been quite a sight seeing us squished on a train! we managed not to get lost, however we also managed to go into the class mixed sex carriage where we were squashed in amongst what felt like thousands of indian men! on our return journey we realised that there was a womens only carriage...we'll definitely be using that from now on!!! We dont think we'll ever get used to the stares we are getting- people just openly stare at you which is very unnerving! the kids absolutely love us, we get so many big smiles from them and they always give us a wave! Although we hated every minute of the train ride there, it was certainly an experience we would not have wanted to miss!When we were in mumbai we went to the main office of pratham and met with christine again! she gave us more of an idea of the different projects pratham run and are involved with and she gave us some background on where pratham came from and what has happened in the past! we found out what we will be doing in the next few days! neither of us felt particularly well after our train experience (We cannot describe the heat/smells/lack of space!) and claire was sick...day two....this is not a good start!! we were excited to learn what we will be doing this week though! Tomorrow we have a day off, so hopefully we will be able to explore the area we are staying in a bit! Then Thursday we are going to Daru Khana to visit the childs rights desk! Friday we are going to Dharavi- most of you will have seen it on the recent programmes on indian slums...! there we are visiting the disability programmes and the platform programmes (where children are rescued from working on train platforms)! Saturday we are going to Govandi to see some more projects! Ruchrita will be looking after us over the next week which is good as we've found that people dont generally speak that much english. On our return train journey we sat in the womens only carriage! this was a much nicer experience, and it was fascinating seeing all the various saris and fashions! whole families jumped onto the carriage to sell various trinkets/jewellery/food/combs/batteries....you name it you could buy it! It was interesting seeing the children selling things, as this is where a lot of the children are rescued from by pratham! now we are chilling in our room, recovering from what has been a chaotic but fascinating day!

missing you all, lots of love,
lisa and claire xxx

Off on our adventure!

Hey guys,

We are off on our adventure tomorrow (well in a few hours!) not sure how much we will be able to use this but thought it would be a good way of letting you all know what we have been up to and we may be able to get some pictures up too! Feeling pretty nervous now, and dont know what to expect- but cant wait to get there!

Hopefully speak to you all soon! Wish us luck!

Love,

Lisa and Claire

xxx