"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." Walt Disney
After a weekend escape to Goa we have been hard at work. Learning from the culture we are surrounded by and working hard to make our impact in our placements. With one week left we are looking forward to getting home but will surely miss Mumbai.
Mandrem Beach, Goa
Goa is directly south of Mumbai and somewhat a different picture to other parts of the country; being known for its excellent beaches, churches, and temples. Goa is India's smallest state by area, fourth smallest by population and the richest state with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country as a whole. Goa is very much a tourist hotspot, in 2010, there were more than two million tourists reported to have visited Goa, about 1.2 million of whom were from abroad. In Goa you can feel the Portuguese influence, for example through the colourfully painted buildings. Being a former Portuguese Colony, the Portuguese were the first to land in Goa as merchants in the early 16th century and conquered it soon after, Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961.
Mandrem Beach, Goa
Emily, Laura and Lizzy went to Majorda in South Goa. Some highlights of their trip were bathing with the elephants, The Night Markets, Seeing Old Goa and the amazing accommodation. Whilst they were down south I went up north to Mandrem Beach to see my cousin and her friends; the highlights of my time were seeing the red sun set over the beach, reading on the beach and generally catching up with people and sleep.
Laura in an auto-rickshaw at Majorda, Goa
Lizzy, Emily and Laura- Bathing with Elephants
Mandrem Beach, Goa
Talking about Mumbai
We have had another beautiful week in Mumbai full of seeing a Bollywood film, shopping and seeing more of the city. Again and again we are amazed to see the friendliness of the Indians. Often they start with staring at us. Then they say ‘hi’ followed by asking our names of which sometime they struggle to say. And then this is followed by ‘where are you from?’ And look amazed when we say Australia. Then they enquire to ‘where we are going?’ And give us suggestions or point us in the right or wrong direction. And often enquire ‘how long we have been in Mumbai/ India’ and ‘what we are doing here’. Their smiles on their faces and energy always bring a smile upon ours. The other day an older man was helping us out with the trains and gave us his wife’s number if we ever get lost!! We haven’t used it yet!
The Trains
The trains are very interesting in Mumbai to say the least. The train system carries more than 7.24 million commuters on a daily basis and is the oldest railway in Asia (built by the British in April 1853). It has the highest passenger densities of any urban railway system in the world. Over 4,500 passengers are packed into a 9-car train during peak hours, as against the rated carrying capacity of 1,700. This has resulted in what is known as Super-Dense Crush Load of 14 to 16 standing passengers per square meter of floor space. Mumbai's local railway network was one of the deadliest in the world: a record 17 people died every weekday on the city's suburban railway network in 2008. Most deaths were people being run over while trespassing on the tracks. The next biggest cause of death was of passengers who fell (or were pushed) from carriages that travel at 64 km/h, are often dangerously full. Another 41 people perished after being bludgeoned by trackside poles while hanging out of overcrowded trains. Twenty-one were electrocuted by power cables when they sat on the roof. Luckily we haven’t been electrocuted, pushed out of a moving train or run over just yet!
Each train is can be up to 15 carriages long and is absolutely packed full of people; there are different compartments in each train and these include:
▪ The General Compartment: Also commonly called as 'Gent's second class' as the majority population in these compartments is men. The compartment is open to women and children as well.
▪ The General First Class Compartment: Again commonly known as 'Gent's first class' since majority population is men. Women and children can also board this compartment.
▪ The Ladies Compartment: Commonly known as 'Ladies second class'. This compartment is reserved solely for females, however male children up to the age of 13 can travel in this compartment. Men are not allowed to travel, and may face a penalty.
▪ The Ladies First Class compartment: Commonly known as 'Ladies first class'. This compartment is reserved solely for females, however male children up to the age of 13 can travel in this compartment. Men are not allowed to travel, and may face a penalty.
▪ For Handicap and Cancer Patients: For the people who have physical disabilities and those with cancer, separate coaches are reserved in each train. On a platform, one can locate these by signs or by following a 'Beep- Beep- Beep' sound indicator for the visually impaired. There is no gender discrimination in these coaches however, one needs a valid certificate of disability(in case it is not apparent) to board the compartment.
▪ For Senior Citizens: A special coach is reserved for passengers above the age of 60. No gender discrimination in these coaches.
▪ For goods and heavy luggage: Heavy goods and luggage can be transported via the suburban trains using the compartments specially designed and reserved for this purpose.
As you can imagine at times it is quite tricky finding the right carriage to board. Especially when the station is shoulder to shoulder with people. The majority of the time we have been boarding in the women’s first class carriage which means that if we are super lucky in non-peak times we may get a seat but the main plus it that you are more likely to be be-able to get on the train.
Our work with the Society of the Education of the Crippled and at The Children’s Hospital Mumbai
Whilst Emily has been working in Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital, Mumbai. She stated that she has found it interesting to see the different cases but at the same time it has been confronting to see the sickly children. During the week I have really enjoyed going to ‘School’ (Society of the Education of the Crippled), seeing the smiles and the enthusiasm of the place is absolutely uplifting. I’m always amazed at the joy on the children’s faces despite their obstacles they are encountering. I have had a great week interacting with the teachers and children. I have mainly been working with children with Cerebral Palsy working through examining and intervening in how they are able to perform their classroom academic activities. I have been looking at improving posture and seating, fine motor skills (either pre-writing or handwriting in the English language) and improving attention within the classroom environment. The Speech Pathologist have been working on articulation, social communication, increasing English vocabulary, and increasing volume and breath support. We cannot believe that we only have one more week left at the school and are working hard to make our programs as sustainable as possible with the limited time we have.
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| The SEC School Bus |
A wheelchair I saw at SEC
Saturday (17th December)
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| Main Street of Matheran |
On Saturday we trekked to a peacefully quaint town named Matheran (meaning ‘forest top’), this hill town located on the Sahyadri range and is located 90km from Mumbai. Matheran has been declared an ecosensitive region by the Union Environment Ministry and the only form of automobile allowed in Matheran is an ambulance. No private automobiles are allowed. This leaves the transport being from foot, horses and hand-pulled rickshaws. It was utterly indescribable to not hear the beeping of a horn or the engines noises which are so common in Mumbai.
Our Lunch at Matheran
Coming home from our time in Matheran we travelled down the mountain on the Toy Train that is in fact just a train for tourist. As we looked out of our windows for over two hours we were left breathless at the views before us. They are just not quiet capture by the photos below.
Sunday (18th of December)
Overlooking Dharavi and the railway
On Sunday, we headed to Dharavi, a slum that is situated near the train line and is spread over 1.7km squared with a population between 600,000 and over 1 million people. Its location and poor drainage system makes it particularly vulnerable to floods during the wet season. Dharavi is known for prominently featuring in Danny Boyle’s film Slumdog Millionaire.
Dharavi from above
We took childlike pleasure in weaving around the narrow passages and dodging the litter and murky puddles. Our caretaker Mukesh took us to his old home in which we climbed a ladder to enter. His home was the smallest room I have ever seen in my life! (No kidding!) He explained that seven of his brothers and himself shared this room; where they slept, toileted and cooked. Mukesh explained that they bathed down on ground level in an open-aired drum (with their neighbours watching) as there is no running water and it would be impossible to get the water up to their home. He enjoyed seeing his old neighbours and reminiscing how nice it was to be so close to his neighbours and community. I got talking to one of the girls who lived in the home now, unfortunately I am unable to pronounce or write her name but she is studying commerce at college it was really good to see how vibrant she was and although she lived in a place without a toilet, that she was gaining an education and a future.
Weaving Around Dharavi
The district has an estimated 5000 businesses and 15,000 single-room factories. We went to a few factories one of them being a sewing factory where they were currently sewing Gillette toiletry bags. The factory is the place all the workers eat, sleep and work.
Single Room Sewing Factory, Dharavi
Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, due in turn to the fact that most housing and 90% of the commercial units in Dharavi are illegal. As of November 2006 there was only one toilet per 1,440 residents in Dharavi. Mahim Creek, is widely used by local residents for urination and defecation, leading to the spread of contagious diseases. The area also suffers from problems with inadequate drinking water supply.
The latest urban redevelopment plan proposed for the Dharavi area involves the construction of 2,800,000 m2 of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the 57,000 families residing in the area, along with 3,700,000 m2 of residential and commercial space for sale. This would occur by building skyscrapers, giving for example the bottom three levels to the current residence and the four upper levels would be sold to the general public. There has been significant local opposition to the plans, because only families who lived in the area before 2000 are slated for resettlement. Residents who fear that some of their small businesses in the “informal” sector may not be relocated under the redevelopment plan have also raised concerns. The government has said that it will only legalise and relocate industries that are not "polluting."
As we finished our week with a southern Indian meal on banana leaves we look forward to what adventures are to come in the next week!
Namaste from Mumbai!
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