For today I booked a slum walk to see how people in the slums live and get a better taste of India.
On my way to the slums meeting point I got stuck in terrible traffic, almost complete stop for at least 3 mins, and constant honking! While I was freaking out about being late I noticed an older man in total peace with his eyes closed in the middle of a total chaotic madness! I couldn't help it but take a picture.
Once at the meeting (which I was late for) I was told that I was the only one booked for the day so I was going to have a private tour! Yeay for me!
We started the walk in the slums by stopping by a chappathi shop.
It was really funny, like 10 people gathered and they were laughing at how horribly I was doing with the chappathi! Once I was done a lot of men (maybe in their 20s) started coming up to me and asking me to take a picture with them! A guy even recorded the whole thing!
After the chappathi was ready they wanted me to eat it! Mmmmm.... I wasn't very sure about that so I broke it in half and one of the guys happily took one half and I tried to eat the other half (I think some of it is still in my bag!!!)
The more I walked the more kids approached me to take a picture of them!
The kids wanted to shake my hand (I guess they have learned that from all the tourists) and I was a little skeptical but how could I not shake their hand?!? It just seemed rude!
I tried hi fives, and smiling at times and that seemed to work for some.
We kept walking and stopped at a food stand where my guide got me some fried potatoes in batter with chutney; to be honest I didn't want to eat them! One thing is to eat from a restaurant on the street and another one completely different is to eat from a dirty stand in the middle of the slums! But I ate it! Haha it was actually pretty yummy!!
Since the beginning of my journey I've had a mantra: "mi cuerpo es sano" (my body is healthy) that I repeat constantly and I believe keeps me from getting sick.
We kept walking (very slowly since every single kid in the slum wanted their picture taken) and in a way I was relieved that the poverty level was comparable to that of El Salvador and many townships in Africa. Of course is sad and heartbreaking to see that these people survive with the bare minimum but they weren't sick children malnourished undressed asking for money being abused, the kids I saw seem joyful and happy so it was a big relief (I had the impression it was going to be more like slum dog millionaire!)
I took the walk with an organization called PETE for India (Providing Education To Everyone) and 80% of the profits goes to projects they run in the slums. They have a childcare where children come and learn while there parents work, they have a vocational school for woman, help widows in the slums among other.
The next stop was at the childcare. Jon, my guide, started knocking on a door and I thought we was going to say hi to somebody but then he called me in and inside was the tiniest childcare I've seen in my life! There were at least 20 children crammed into this tiny room. When I entered they all say hi and they sang for me. A couple of kids came to the front and sang twinkle twinkle little star in both English and Hindi for me.
After the childcare Jon took me to the woman's vocational school where some women were waiting to start their class. They were all in a little room and had a fire going inside the room to keep themselves warm. I sat with them and immediately was served a cup of tea and a plate with 2 round cracker looking things and 3 pieces of toasted white bread!! I really didn't want to eat them! The tea was scalding hot so I thought it was ok but what about the cup?!? It could have all kind of germs! Haha ... And the food... Not very safe looking! I took a couple of sips of my tea repeating my mantra and a couple of bites of the round crackers and called it a day!
Here is what they learn at the vocational school
One of the woman at the school offered to do a henna tattoo on my hand so for about 20 mins I wasn't allowed to move so it was perfect! By then the other women had eaten my food! Yeay!
I loved seeing the girl doing the henna! The design was very complicated and needed very precise and delicate movement! The final work was beyond beautiful!
We kept walking through the slums meeting more people and I stopped where a couple a women where making more "tortillas"
We continued our walk...
Then, we entered a really rough side of the slums... Here people really were very poor! The floor was pure mud, the whole place was covered in flies and so were people!!!! I was in shock and I wanted to get out! All the people had really short teeth and maybe they chew something that makes their mouth and teeth a red/brownish color. A guy's kakhi pants looked like dotted pants due to all the flies laying there! I was glad a had henna in one hand and my camera in the other so I couldn't shake hands (I did not take pictures, I was in too much of a shock!) kids were extremely dirty and naked, women were checking each other's hair for lice, many of the women seemed "out of it" like they were drugged or something! It was kind of scary!
We kept walking this time with less stopping since I was kind of done.
Here are some pictures of the kids... The boy poses wee beyond hilarious!
When we reached the end of the tour I turned around and saw a kid with a bike walking with a friend through a ground full of garbage... Heartbreaking!
We headed back to the metro station and Jon wasn't the best communicator so I was lost as to what we were doing next. He met with another guide at the metro station and he decided to take both of us on his moped to the office!
Three people in the moped was a bit of an experience. First of all I didn't want to go on the moped, not with one more person, let alone with two! And even less so without a helmet!
Well, I didn't have the option so I had to jump into the moped and be in the middle. Jon was in the front, I was in the middle and the other guide (a woman) was wearing a sari so she sat sideways behind me. They totally invaded my bubble and personal space! I wish somebody videotaped my face for the first two minutes of the ride, it must have been hilarious!
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