First day at work

So, I survived my first day in the Golibar slum! And it wasn’t even bad at all. Granted, I only visited, but still, it was much better than I had imagined. Let me start from the beginning.

This morning Hetal, the Assistant Director from MarketPlace India Mumbai, picked us up and we took a rickshaw to work. Riding a rickshaw is an experience everybody should try. It is basically a covered moped with a seat that fits three, preferably two, but as with everything else in Mumbai more likely 6. We have regularly seen families of 6 with very small children riding 50km per hour and don’t even start thinking about a car seat! To this moment I still have no idea why we were not crushed in the insane traffic, but as I mentioned before, the chaos of Mumbai has a rhythm and it somehow just works. Our destination was the edge of the Golibar slum. The slum is divided up into colonies and The MarketPlace India Mumbai is at the edge of the Maratha colony.

We stopped in front of a tiny office under ground level. Once the steel gate in front of the paddle locked door was opened, we stepped down over ½ yard. There, we were greeted by Hasina. Because she is older, one addresses her with the respectful addition of –gi, so in this case Hasina-gi. Both Hetal and Hasina-gi are phenomenal people and we felt so welcome. We had a great conversation and Hetal explained in just a few hours so many things we desperately had tried to understand. I was so super excited to hear that we actually have a internship with somewhat of a structure. Anyway, soon afterwards Hetal thought it would be a good time to meet some of the people who are affiliated with The Market Place. So, we put our shoes on and left. Right outside the office was a tiny alley that allowed entrance to Golibar. Hanna and I were braced for unbelievable sights and smells we had encountered the other days, but to our surprise were met with neither. Yes, it is incredibly poor. The tiny alleys lead you down rows of approximately 9x9 feet rooms of which one is the entire living quarter for families. But, I was amazed how well the people functioned with the incredibly little they had. Again, don’t misunderstand me and think this should be your next family vacation spot, it is most definitely not a suitable place for anybody! But considering it is all they can afford, they have been able to create a community that somehow succeeds to function. It is kind of a hidden community within a buzzing city. I noticed door decorations, plants, “village squares”, and benches. I also noticed the open sewer, naked children, and a look in their eyes I at this point do not know to describe. They are able to create joy and yet so disappointed. I later found out that the Maratha colony is the posh of the slums.

We visited one of the producer groups (sewing groups) and saw how they had combined three rooms (two back to back and one on top joined with a ladder) into their place for a livelihood. Every person in the group is trained in a specific task and is that group’s expert. This is Jokhim, who is one of the few males associated with this project and he is the expert on interlocking. We also visited a new project The MarketPlace India has just started and I truly enjoyed seeing this unusual interlock machine.

We then went for lunch, again using a rickshaw. Indians make a huge point in eating together. Hetal mentioned that nobody sits alone and eats, so we ordered a super delicious grilled spinach-cheese-corn sandwich and headed back to the office. It was indeed delicious, but my stomach could bare fit one slice. We have eaten so little over the past days that a whole sandwich was just too much. I noticed in general how much less the others eat too. Hasina-gi brought her own lunch which consisted of a tiny bowl of chicken curry and some pieces of bread. She tried really hard to share it too.

At the end of the day, we took a rickshaw back and enjoyed our ½ minute shower. I am getting pretty good at it by now. Amazing with how much less you can learn to do with, including an Indian toilet, but I will leave it at that.