Jewels in Asia's Largest Slum

Today I visited the Sharanam Centre for Girls located in Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum. It’s home to about 25 girls, some abandoned, others orphaned, some sold by relatives into the substantial commercial sex trade here. It wasn’t the sort of place I would have visited at home. But I’m writing about the Centre and other Dasra partners, and that can’t be done without seeing them first hand.

I never would have found the Centre without the help of a young woman volunteering there. She walked through the twisting, crowded streets confidently, stopping now and then at one of the many stands to try to find magazines needed for today’s project. Unfortunately, I had made her late so she ultimately decided that she would introduce me to the children, and I would be their project for the day. The Centre is located in a residential building on the fourth floor. The volunteer, Devi, was happy the elevator was working today; from the looks of it I could see it wasn’t always dependable. She pulled the steel gate to a side, closed it behind us, and we rode up. The halls were dimly hit with outside light, and I focused on reaching the Centre itself. When we arrived, about 10 girls came running to the steel gate that is padlocked. It serves as the front door of the shelter. One of the older children headed back to get the key and let us in. We took off our shoes, and headed in.

The girls were eager to again see Devi, who was born Indian (and looks it) and adopted as a baby by a Dutch family. They also were definitely curious about the red-headed stranger she’d brought along. The children, ages 3 to 14, had just finished napping and some were eating lunch. Initially, we sat around in a small room, some on tables, others on the floor. Devi waited for the children to finish eating while I looked from child to child trying to imagine the circumstances that led to their being at the shelter. The girls were quiet, but returned my smile. Devi started the program by introducing me and asking each of the girls to introduce herself in English. Each clearly said, “Hello Audrey. My name is __________ and I am in the _____ year.” (While several of the older girls knew a bit more English, most of the exchange was translated by their house mother Sharda, a young woman who clearly loves her work with the kids.) Davi asked me to tell them about myself. Suddenly, I was speechless. I couldn’t think of what to say…how to relate. I started by sharing a bit about my own family, my three kids. They listened quietly, but I quickly realized that they were more intent on looking at me than on what I was saying. Besides, there were few details about my very privileged family that seemed relevant at that moment. I talked about the United States briefly. I mentioned the big election, but that was awkward as they couldn’t relate. (What was I thinking?) Finally, I landed on what’s popular in the US. I gave them a limited comparison of Hollywood to Bollywood. (Knowing little about each, this didn’t take much time, although at least the older girls were interested.) I was angry at myself for not being able to come up with something more exciting for the kids, but I was a bit thrown by all that was around me. Ultimately, I suggested we play a game. The one I picked was Indian Chief, although I quickly changed the name to Follow the Leader for obvious reasons. The game was a hit, and the girls loved it. Each took turns and all screamed out “Please Deedee, pick me.” (Deedee is a sweet term they use to address an adult. It’s like auntie.) We played until most of the kids had a turn being the leader. I noticed that as we played, the girls on both sides of me moved closer, and soon each was holding my hand and comparing their dark skin to my pale, freckly skin.

After, Devi said the kids knew some dances….Would I like to see them? (Of course!) The girls ran in different directions to grab sashes and cassette tapes. What followed is something I’ll always remember. Remarkably, the girls dance at a very high level. They demonstrated amazing precision and feeling with their moves, and they were beautiful to watch. They performed three dances: one to Indian music, one to English music, and one to a classical piece I wasn’t familiar with. I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I learned later that a dance teacher has been coming to the shelter for some time and working with the girls. Devi said the teacher is very strict, and the girls are responsive. All I can say is the result was totally unexpected and beautiful; I was sorry to see the dancing end. My pictures don’t do this justice at all, but have a look anyway. I suggest you view it as a slide show (See option at the top of the page that comes up. Just give it a few seconds to fully load.)

Link

We spent a couple of hours with the girls, and I took in the way they looked out for each other, big kids helping little kids, having fun, smiling a lot. Devi told me that the shelter can be the girls’ home for as long as they want, and they live as a family. The house mother sleeps in a small, separate room, but the younger kids often sleep with her. Other activities the girls spoke about included painting, which they enjoy a lot. A recent lesson was about Picasso, and they tried to imitate his work. Amazing….

Quick Takes

More about Devi, the young volunteer who took me to the shelter – Devi speaks none of the Indian languages. That makes it hard at time because Indians expects that she does given her Indian appearance. She does, however, speak Dutch, French, German, English and perhaps one or two other languages I’m not recalling. She has a wonderful way about her that draws the kids to her. We arrived in Mumbai on the same day, and Devi will leave just a few days ahead of us. Earlier this week, she met a young man, also volunteering here, who was adopted from the same orphanage she came from in Dehli. Devi hadn’t planned to visit the orphanage, but now she and her new friend will visit it together in December.

School yard – Before reaching the slum today, I rode by a schoolyard. I saw kids in the yard lined up practicing calisthenics. Each was dressed in a neat uniform. Just outside the gates of the schoolyard, kids from the slum were playing in the street. Talk about contrasts! India is full of them.

American Election Results – We followed the returns yesterday on CNN/IBN (and can’t wait to hear about the Senate). Here, there was great interest in the fact that 15 Indian-Americans ran for office at various levels; half are Democrats. The reporter noted their decisions to run for office is indicative of the confidence of the Indian-American community in the United States. The issues that were identified as critical to the Indian-American vote were immigration and healthcare, in addition to the war. Regarding the Indo-American nuclear deal, the reported said that it’s believed that regardless of the final outcome of the election, there is confidence that Bush and Rice will get the deal through. Also making news was a squirrel in Oklahoma who chewed through some electric wires. After his lights went out, so did the power in the area nearby preventing voters from casting their votes.

Food, glorious food – We now have a dabbahwallah. This is a service the locals use that brings in meals that are so much better than those we’ve ordered for take out. The food is healthy, delicious, and all veg. We order three meals, three times a week to be sure we have leftovers. Each meal is INR35…less than $1. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before. Either way, it’s worth mentioning again. We’re pretty happy about this.

Cricket - Our landlord invited us to the international cricket match between Australia and West Indies. It was a championship match and a very big deal here. We were very lucky to get these tickets. Cricket is the biggest sport in India. Frank seemed to catch on, and I kind of get it. (It's definitely not as exciting as watching the Redskins beat Dallas!!) We only watched for a short time because of a rain delay. I found the most interesting part to be watching the field being covered and uncovered four times. Quite a process. Anyway, very exciting to be able to see play at such a high level.

Blog Archive - So, I can't figure out why the archive link to the blog has dropped down to the bottom of the page. (I need one of my trusty tech gurus to help figure that out.) I just want to be sure you have a chance to read some of the earlier postings, so take a look down below for the links.)