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The Slums of Mumbai: A World Inside a World

Slums of MumbaiDharavi, one of the slums of Mumbai, ranks alongside the world’s biggest slums. It is home to around 1 million people. The area is overcrowded, unhygienic and a generally difficult place to live. Concerns over living conditions, however, seem not to bother the residents. This area also happens to be home to several innovative individuals. From trade and business, just as complex as the real world, to cricket leagues and entertainment, the Mumbai slums are an intriguing place once there are no stereotypes. Here is a story of the slums of Mumbai: a world inside a world.

Trade and Business

Dharavi, Mumbai’s largest slum settlement, has a remarkably diverse and active business sector. Hundreds of thousands of people engage in this thriving world of trade from innovative producers to keen buyers. There are around 5,000 businesses that generate over $1 billion in total revenue. The successes of these businesses ensure a stable, healthy and happy lifestyle not just for slum residents, but for the poorer Indian community as a whole.

The innovative trade of recycling, specifically talented craftsmen turning recycled goods into all manner of things, plays a significant role in the slums thriving business sector. Dharavi recycles around 60% of Mumbai’s plastic waste and this business employs up to 12,000 people. From the manufacturing process to product making, the recycling business in Dharavi provides jobs and opportunities for people of all skill sets.

Other industries such as leather and textiles enable further trade both externally and within the borders of the slums. From goat and sheep skin, talented textile artists are able to make various leather products that find use locally and all the way up to high-end fashion, with global brands like Giorgio Armani utilizing the leather goods!

There are around 300 bakeries in Dharavi that mainly specialize in papadom making. This provides both stable incomes for the bakers (women can earn up to 100 rupees) and food for local residents. The benefit of providing food is particularly important as food can be scarce in the Mumbai slums, as reported by Global Citizen.

Art

Art acts as an important contributor to the cultural influence the slums have. Amazing street art is littered all around the slums of Mumbai that depict the realities of slum living. Sassoon Docks, for example, is a thriving street art center known for the artists’ collaboration with local fishermen, their environmental activism and their embodiment of Mumbai’s fishing traditions. Artwork like this has attracted tourists, writers and photographers from all over the world, enriching the slum’s cultural impact.

The Mumbai slums are also a musically gifted place. A Hip-Hop culture that has now been present for more than a decade has dominated the music scene in the slums of Mumbai. Hip-Hop artists such as Dopeadelicz and SlumGods have all had success in India’s rap scene. Artists like these have helped Indian Hip-Hop grow and expand the cultural influence of the Mumbai slum music scene.

Sport

Slum golf is a recent phenomenon that has taken hold in the slums of Mumbai. As the name suggests, it is golf that people play within the narrow alleys and pathways of the Mumbai slums. Golf would usually be an inaccessible, “rich” sport in the eyes of slum residents but with just clubs and a ball, golf enthusiasts are able to play the game they love.

Cricket, as with most of India, is an integral part of the day-to-day life of slum residents. And their love for the sport has created a vibrant culture of cricket. Many leagues within the slums have been set up, and this has given access to people with varying abilities to play. Street cricket (with improvised rules) is also massive in the slums. For instance, hitting out of the playing area means you are out as you have lost the ball!

Looking Ahead

Despite the challenging living conditions in Mumbai’s slums, a vibrant world exists within, filled with innovative businesses, captivating art and a passion for sports. The bustling trade sector generates significant revenue, employing thousands and benefiting the entire community. Art and music add cultural richness to the slums, attracting global attention. Additionally, slum residents find joy in unique sports like slum golf and cricket, fostering a sense of community and providing opportunities for all skill levels. The slums of Mumbai defy stereotypes, showcasing resilience, creativity and a spirit of determination.

– Max Steventon
Photo: Flickr

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Chess in Slums Fights Nigerian Poverty

Chess in Slums
According to the World Bank, in 2019 Nigeria ranked second of the five countries with the highest number of extremely poor people. The 2022 Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) survey noted that 63% of residents of Nigeria and 67.5% of the children are multidimensionally poor. Lack of education contributes to poverty likelihood, and increasing and improving education is a poverty-reduction strategy. Ironically, in Nigeria, playing chess in slums by out-of-school slum kids is also contributing to poverty reduction.

Effect of Poverty in Nigeria: Out-of-School Children Turned “Agberos”

According to 2020 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates, about 10.5 million Nigerian five-to-14-year-old children were out-of-school. In 2022, that figure increased to 18.5 million due to a high rate of attacks from jihadists. About 60% of the out-of-school students are girls. In addition, only 35% of Nigerian children attend early childhood classes and only 61% of six-to-ll-year-olds regularly attend primary school classes.  This is despite the fact that primary school is free and compulsory in Nigeria.

Some of the out-of-school students live with their parents who do not enroll them so they can help them beg on the street. Others have run away from home or are orphans whose home is on the streets. Left to roam the streets, these children get involved in mischief that gets them into trouble in the community. They are usually called “agberos,” a Yoruba word for “thugs,” “hoodlums” or “street boys” who wind up increasing the level of criminal activities and insecurity in the country, which is an effect of poverty in Nigeria.

Chess in Slums: Keeping Out-of-School Students Off the Streets

Babatunde Onakoya founded Chess in Slums Africa (CISA) in 2018. This nonprofit organization’s goal is to teach underprivileged children how to play chess to keep them off the street. The founder uses the metaphor that just like the pawn can become a queen, underprivileged children can also become kings and queens.

For someone who lived in one of the Nigerian slums, Onakoya could relate to the out-of-school children. His parents could not afford his secondary school fees and so could not enroll in one. Luckily, a year later,  his mother got to work in a school for free in exchange for his education. By this time, he had learned to play chess by watching a barber and his opponent play several times. He got better at it, won tournaments, played in university and eventually became a professional chess tutor.

When Babatunde graduated from university and did not have a job, he and his chess friends began teaching chess to children in the community of Majidun in Lagos. The team began to teach children how to play chess, by visiting them on specific days, like Saturdays and Sundays in Majidun, to teach them basic rules, movements and tricks of the board game that people often perceive to be only for elites.

CISA Training and Success

CISA organizes its training into three phases: beginner,  intermediate and master. It monitors and evaluates students as they progress through the “chess-kid curriculum” that Onakoya chose because of its strength elsewhere in both teaching and competition coaching.

As Onakoya noted, “For me, education is more like the capacity for thought, for the children to be able to think independently. That is why we are giving them chess as a way for them to be educated in a different way, to learn how to think for themselves, not teach them what exactly to think but how to think for themselves, to come up with solutions for problems.”

In an interview with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Onakoya said, “The process of learning chess and trying to understand some of these complex things builds mental capacity over time. These children don’t speak any English words but over time, you see them using words like prophylaxis whenever we do group analysis together. Research has proven this time and time again that chess is a perfect game for mental development.”

Chess in Slums Reach and Success

CISA now works in several communities in Nigeria and even has started a chess academy in Burkino Faso. With more than 1,000 children enrolled, 500 of them have reached the intermediate level. Students have earned more than $400,000 in 200 academic scholarships. Future goals include enrolling 5,000 students, raising a million dollars to sponsor $1,000 a student to attend school and establishing programs across Africa.

– Oluwagbohunmi Bajela
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Poverty in Delhi: Rich Delhi, Poor Delhi

Poverty in DelhiIndia is one of the fastest-growing economies, with a population of more than 1.2 billion people, 30.7 million of whom live in the capital city of Delhi. People frequently view Delhi as an exceptionally wealthy area due to its abundance of posh communities like Vasant Vihar, Jor Bagh and Green Park. However, within India, in its own capital city, people are battling to survive without bare necessities. In Delhi, impoverished people are isolated from the rich. Opulent retail centers and cafés surround slums and some slums are wedged between rich neighborhoods. Poverty in Delhi, concealed in the cracks of luxury, is vastly different from the overall picture of the city as a whole.

Delhi’s Dichotomy

Delhi is one of India’s most economically prosperous cities with an estimated GDP of approximately $293.6 billion. The typical Delhi resident “earns three times more than the average Indian.” Within one of the most affluent communities in Delhi, Vasant Vihar, however, is Kusumpur Pahari, a quagmire of poverty and home to 10,000 slums. Its inhabitants cram themselves into close quarters, deprived of the necessary elements of a stable life. Only miles away is Delhi’s biggest shopping mall and its 102-meter-high civic center. This lopsided situation leaves slum residents working tirelessly to survive as servants to the rich residents of Vasant Vihar. Poverty in Delhi is visible within the city’s slums.

Delhi’s Slums: Kusumpur Pahari and Madanpur Khadar

Kusumpur Pahari is home to mostly migrants from “UP, Bihar, Orissa and Assam.” Slum-dwellers labor as drivers, gardeners and housekeepers for their wealthy neighbors. Kusumpur Pahari residents often live in one-room shacks that have no running water. However, circumstances have substantially advanced in the previous decade as a result of hard work by a women’s association. In 2016, there was no flowing water in Kusumpur Pahari, but owing to the efforts of the women ‘s association, a truck now brings freshwater to the neighborhood every several days.

Madanpur Khadar is another slum in the suburbs of Delhi. With narrow streets and a sewage line that runs right through it, these slums’ residents suffer.  In 2000, the government chose it as the area for relocating vast numbers of slum families from other locations of the city. The bulk of the people that live in Madanpur Khadar collect and sell rags. Inhabitants suffer from polluted drinking water and sanitation issues. Though they experience less than desirable conditions, NGOs have taken notice of this area. Madanpur Khadar’s women and HIV-affected dwellers are receiving help from these organizations, as reported by So City. Additionally, the slum is now on the map after 15 female residents collaborated with local nonprofit organizations in 2018 to help their community benefit from increased internet visibility of their location.

Sangam Vihar, Kathputli Colony and Seemapuri Slum

Sangam Vihar is a slum community that houses people moving from surrounding states, primarily Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, according to So City. It has no freshwater access and a lack of community toilets, which leads to exposed defecation, producing sanitary concerns in the area. Poverty in Delhi and water shortages have transformed Sangam Vihar into a refuge for thieves and brought rise to gangs whose members are willing to murder for water. Fights and killings are commonplace in Sangam Vihar, where water is limited.

Kathputli Colony is the most interesting slum in Delhi with illusionists, puppet masters and many different types of entertainers living in the area, according to So City. People recognize Kathputli Colony for its colorful buildings and roads bustling with street performers. Due to the prevalence of poverty in Delhi, India tries to hide its slums. However, whenever it wants to demonstrate its cultural prowess, India showcases this particular slum. Though a sluggish source of money and transformation, slum walk tours through Kathputli Colony appear to be creating more financial opportunities for the dwellers. Slum walk tours are helping to fund a school and provide the residents with a quality of better life.

Seemapuri slum is home to around “800 of the locality’s 1,700-odd residents.” The slum-dwellers battle to secure basic sanitation, water and electricity because the area is an unofficial community that is cut off from the city’s essential utilities. According to So City, Seemapuri serves as an example of poverty in Delhi with exposed sewers where women fetch contaminated drinking water and reside in mud dwellings where it is normal for seven to eight people to occupy only one small room.

Addressing the Problems of the Slums

Dr. Kiran Martin, the founder of the Asha India organization, is a well-known name in the domain of poverty reduction. Asha’s programs aid more than 700,000 people in more than 91 Delhi slum colonies. Martin’s efforts have earned her the Padma Shri, one of the country’s highest civilian honors. The Asha India organization dedicates its time to reducing poverty in Delhi, particularly within the slums. It aims to empower residents, provide better health care, increase educational opportunities and make environmental improvements. In 2018, the organization celebrated its 30th birthday and continues to push toward its goals today.

With the ongoing efforts of organizations, hope is on the horizon for the divide between the wealthy and the impoverished in Delhi to one day come to a close.

– Tiffany Lewallyn
Photo: Flickr

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3D Printing Homes: the Future of Housing?

3D printed homesAn important part of fighting global poverty is providing people a safe place to live. 3D printed homes offers a new solution, as this new method allows for fast and cheap mass-production of affordable housing.

What is the Current Demand for Affordable Housing?

Before the pandemic, approximately 2% of the world’s population was classified as homeless. In addition, over 20% of the world’s population lacked adequate housing. Demographic trends point to an acceleration in population growth worldwide, coupled with the decline of average household size, the global need for affordable housing is increasing rapidly.

The UN estimates—with ‘medium growth’—the world’s population will reach over 11 billion people by the end of this century. Furthermore, environmental instances have displaced millions of people around the world, make it harder to live in some places. The need for affordable housing is clear, however, new 3D printing homes could be the answer to producing quality affordable housing around the world.

What does 3D Printed Housing Offer?

Compared to traditional housing methods, 3D printing is faster and cheaper. Moreover, 3D printing offers environmental benefits. By limiting construction and waste the method is carbon neutral or even negative. With millions of people living in poorly constructed homes made with scrap metal and dirt floors, 3D printed homes promise a safer and better-quality living environment. Living in slum housing can not only make it harder to succeed in school or at work, but the dangerous living conditions can present physical health risks.

3D printed homes are made to last. 3D printing creates a hybrid concrete mortar that hardens while printing. As a result, the tool can mass-produce ‘housing kits’ with the structures needed to build a home.

Current 3D Printing Examples

In the city of Chennai, India, the country is seeing its first 3D printed homes thanks to NGO Tvasta. “Traditional construction is tedious and time-consuming. People are increasingly getting left out as affordability is limited, or settling for low-quality homes,” said Adithya Jain, the company’s CEO. They built the first house in five days. Additionally, they used 30% less of the budget than planned and produced less environmental waste in the process.

In El Salvador, an American company ICON has successfully replaced slums with 3D-printed housing. They have designed a 350-square foot home which was assembled in approximately two days. “Something that sounds like science fiction is real… This is meant to be long-term sustainable housing,” said Jason Ballard the co-founder of ICON.

3D Printing’s Promising Future

As the demand for affordable housing continues to increase, there will be a need to invest in technology that allows us to keep up with the demand, giving everyone the opportunity to live in safe and quality housing. 3D printed homes have the potential to help end global poverty and the worldwide housing crisis.

– Alex Muckenfuss
Photo: Flickr

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The People of Slovakia’s Lunik IX Slum

lunik IXAn uncomfortable reality is that there are many children in the world who do not have essentials such as food, water, electricity and a safe, sheltered home. This is the reality for the people living in Lunik IX in Slovakia.

Roma People in Lunik IX

There a several reasons why Lunik IX is an area that is neglected and overlooked by Slovakia. One is due to the large population of Roma people, a minority group unfairly discriminated against and long labeled as a reason for many problems in the country. The slum mostly consists of Roma people who lack the very things they need to rise out of poverty. The Roma population’s 97% unemployment rate is the biggest reason for poverty in the area. Many try to get jobs but are denied them purely based on their ethnicity.

This, as a result, heavily impacts children in Lunik IX. Their parents cannot provide for them, forcing them to live in a rundown area where there is little to no electricity and basic needs go unfulfilled. There is also little opportunity for them to break the cycle of poverty. All these issues have made the area a seemingly hopeless place for many of the children who live there.

Recreational Developments in Lunik IX

In the past few years, significant progress has been made in Lunik IX to improve living conditions for people. For one, there have been a lot of projects built purely for the purpose of giving children safe spaces to play in instead of playing in garbage and rubble. A gym, ping pong tables, a playground and a park have all been built, giving the residents safe recreational spaces. While these seem like small solutions to big problems, these spaces allow kids to be kids. The children of Lunik IX do not live typical childhoods and these projects allow them to engage in children’s play activities.

Other Key Developments in Lunik IX

Three important new developments in the area are the implementation of regular garbage disposal, the establishment of clean drinking water facilities and new construction projects. Lunik IX has been long plagued with poorly disposed of trash and a regular garbage disposal system eliminates this problem entirely. This alone can improve the health of people tenfold, as many of the diseases they face arise from unsanitary living conditions.

Clean drinking water is a necessity and it is something that Lunik IX lacks. There are plans for the reconstruction of water pipes with a prepaid system, which will ensure nobody accumulates debt from water payments.

Newer construction efforts are on track to solve the decay of many buildings and the lack of employment opportunities. Many of the newer buildings can be worked by residents, allowing them to have jobs they have previously been denied based on ethnicity.

Despite Lunik IX’s reputation as on of Europe’s worst slums, efforts are being made to change this and improve living conditions for the people.

– Remy Desai-Patel
Photo: Flickr

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Slum Reform in Colombia: 3 Ways Medellín Reformed Its Slums

Slum Reform in ColombiaIn Colombia, guerrilla wars that started in 1964 displaced thousands of people. The result was that many settled into slums. One of these slums, Comuna 13, lies in the city of Medellín, Colombia. During the next 40 years, the population in Medellín grew from 350,000 to 3 million, vastly decreasing the available living space. Poverty emerged in the cramped quarters of the Comuna 13 slum. Unfortunately, the cycle only continued due to a lack of transportation, public services and education. Poverty paved the way for drug cartels to emerge, but Medellín had committed to change. Below are three ways in which Medellín has reformed its slums, becoming an example of slum reform in Colombia and Latin America:

3 Ways Medellín Reformed Its Slums

  1. Transportation. Medellín created transportation in the slums to make life easier. Comuna 13 sits on the side of a hill and therefore, previously, many residents had to climb the equivalent of 28 stories to reach their homes. As a solution, Medellín invested $7 million in an escalator which provides a five-minute ride. This makes transportation to the main city much easier. In 2004, the installation of cable cars reduced a two-hour commute from the slums to the city, to a 45-minute commute. Today, 20,000 people use the cable cars (which end next to the subway station) per day.
  2. Promoting Education and Discouraging Drug Activity. Medellín installed community resources as part of its slum reform to promote education and discourage drug cartels. With education, people can get higher-paying jobs and break the cycle of poverty. But when people live in poverty, drug cartels try to recruit them with the promise of money and security. To address this, Medellín constructed art galleries, libraries (with free computer use), auditoriums and community centers, in 2007. These are easily accessible thanks to the installation of cable cars. Education, a key factor of slum reform in Colombia, can break the cycle of poverty by helping those in the slums obtain higher-paying jobs.
  3. Hiring. Medellín also hired residents for projects to create slum reform. One key example was the installation of paved paths, vegetable gardens and drainage canals. These projects beautified Comuna 13 and also gave back to the community in other ways. For instance, 2,500 previously unemployed people worked on the projects, earned money and created a better space to live in.

A Model for Success

Medellín is an example of successful slum reform in Colombia. The property prices of homes in the slums have risen and tourism has surged as a result of the new transportation and beautification measures. Also, as the former murder capital of the world, Medellín’s key goal was to reduce homicide. By 2012, in just eight short years, the murder rate reduced 50% to 0.05%. For comparison, this figure is less than New Orleans’s at 0.075% murder rate. Medellín is an example for many other communities around the world. In Latin America, for example, more than 80% of the population lives in cities and as the population grows, space per person reduces. This translates into growing slums. With the help of innovative ideas such as those from Medellín — communities can reform their slums and help improve the lives of those living in poverty.

– Seona Maskara
Photo: Wikimedia

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The Housing Crisis in Sub-Saharan African Slums

Sub-Saharan African SlumsSub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a housing crisis. While around one billion people live in slums around the globe, 200 million of those live in sub-Saharan African slums. This number represents “61.7% of the region’s urban population,” making sub-Saharan Africa the highest in the world for urban poverty.

Sub-Saharan African Slums and Urban Poverty

Singumbe Muyeba, assistant professor of African Studies at the University of Denver, spoke with The Borgen Project about development intervention and sub-Saharan African slums. Muyeba’s expertise in these areas stems from his academic work but also from his work for the United Nations’ High Commission for Refugees and Development Program.

According to Muyeba, sub-Saharan African slums began when African countries gained independence from colonialist rule from the 1960s through the ‘80s. Since colonialists always reserved major cities for themselves, Africans everywhere migrated from rural to urban areas after independence. However, that meant infant governments had to keep up with increasing urban populations. They were unable to do so due to the skyrocketing rates of urbanization.

With housing rapidly diminishing as Africans moved into cities, they began settling onto common land, eventually creating the sprawling slums that still exist today. Even now, the sub-Saharan African urban population is annually growing at 4%. A projection from the U.N. reveals that “the world’s 10 fastest growing cities, between 2018 and 2035, will all be in Africa.” In addition, there is a backlog of 51 million housing units in Africa. The region’s supply of housing is “about nine years behind current demand,” according to Muyeba.

Slum Upgrading Programs

The World Bank has funded slum upgrading programs to combat rising urban poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. These programs assigned property rights and provided access to services in hopes to empower slum residents with their own land. However, as Muyeba explained, these programs were largely “self-help” models. The World Bank simply gave impoverished individuals property rights and no means to build their own housing.

Since “about 97% to 99% of people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to formal financing” that allows them to build or buy a home, people haphazardly build their own informal housing or remain in slums. Formal and sustainable housing only accounts for 10% of all urban African housing. While handing out free titles and property rights looks good on paper, this “slum upgrading” has not improved slums.

Ongoing Problems in Slums

While sub-Saharan Africa housing conditions improved by 11% from 2000-2015,  this improvement was “twice as likely in the wealthiest households” and “80% more likely among more educated households.” The reality is that 80-90% of Africans work in the informal sector, and the majority of people living in sub-Saharan African cities live in slums. Therefore, this housing improvement did not occur in the slums, which many people cannot escape.

George Compound, a slum in Lusaka, Zambia, serves as a perfect example of a poorly executed upgrade program. It is a major slum with 400,000 inhabitants, but it does not have adequate running water. The water it does have from makeshift wells is contaminated with nearby ground toilets.

In Muyeba’s opinion, government involvement is necessary to fix the African housing crisis. While he is not against privatization, he believes the neoliberal model is not working to improve sub-Saharan African slums.

Can Governments Fix the Housing Crisis?

However, even if African governments want to get involved in building housing, they cannot. This is because of the World Bank’s international economic rulings on aid and upgrade programs. “The system is set up in such a way that the World Bank advocates for less involvement of the government following the Structural Adjustment Programs implemented in the 80s and 90s,” stated Muyeba.

In order to receive aid through the World Bank’s structural adjustment programs, governments often have to delegate building to the private sector. However, the private sector cannot make a real profit from low-income housing because so many Africans and slum-dwellers are part of the informal sector. People in poverty cannot get mortgages because they lack access to credit or insurance. This prevents the private sector from serving poor Africans.

Muyeba firmly believes “there are wins everywhere” if governments (with the help of communities and the private sector) build housing. The construction sector can benefit from large-scale projects, while infrastructure creates jobs. Individuals in slums can focus their attention on making income rather than worrying about basic housing needs.

Muyeba offered Kenya as an example of combined state, private and community partnerships to combat urban poverty. Currently, the country has implemented its own kind of slum upgrading program in which the government builds housing and guarantees mortgages.

Organizations Helping People in Sub-Saharan African Slums

Outside organizations and NGOs are actively working to help housing poverty in sub-Saharan African slums. Habitat for Humanity completed a six-year program in 2018 called “Building Assets, Unlocking Access.” This program worked in Uganda and Kenya to offer technical help and “develop housing microfinance products and services.” Habitat for Humanity’s approach allowed Africans to progressively build their own housing, access small-scale loans and set up small payments.

More than 42,000 individuals accessed microfinance loans through the program, which impacted more than 210,000 people in total. In addition, 32.9% of loan recipients built entire houses for themselves and their families.

A report from the project found that recipients also upgraded their housing with improved roofing, walls, sanitation and electricity. Additionally, the program caused trickle-down effects in health. Fewer people reported common ailments like “sore throats, shortness of breath, itchy eyes, blocked noses, vomiting and rashes” due to healthier housing. The most improved group was children under six.

Hopefully, all African cities struggling with urban poverty can create domestic housing projects or find new, inventive ways to help the housing crisis. All in all, the solution to sub-Saharan African slums is housing. According to Muyeba, “It’s a no brainer.”

– Grace Ganz
Photo: Flickr

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The Hidden Effects of COVID-19 in India

COVID-19 in India
The most devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in India may not be those caused by the virus itself. For the first time since India’s independence from the British crown, the already inordinate poverty rate is rising. The 69% of the nation that is on or below the poverty line are those who are at the greatest risk for infection. However, they are likely to face even more substantial damage from falling deeper into economic trouble.

The Problem

India has reported 1.24 million cases of COVID-19, but this data does not tell the full story of the country’s experience with the virus. With a population of over 1.35 billion, India actually has a lower rate of infection than the US. Many simply credit the nation’s sweltering climate to their proportionately low infection rate. While there may be some truth to this assumption, it is not a sufficient explanation. Another important factor is India’s astonishingly large poverty rate. Many of the country’s poor have little to no ability to practice social distancing, lack homes to shelter in place and do not have access to testing. The poverty-ridden sector of the population is therefore not only at great risk for infection but is also rarely accounted for in nationwide data.

The Causes

Throughout the pandemic, India has taken relatively strict action in terms of enforcing lockdown. This method has effectively impeded the spread of the virus among the wealthy, significantly contributing to the lower infection and mortality rates. With policies such as this in place, the most affluent citizens avoid crowded streets. Not only does this reality render many of the poorest members of the pre-virus workforce jobless as businesses close, but it even inhibits begging, something a great portion of the four million homeless people in India rely on for survival.

The Effects

In lieu of proper homes, virus protection and economic stability, the poorest members of society are finding new ways to try to combat their unfavorable circumstances. Slums are even more crowded than before and government-created hospitals have become the new shelter for many. Dr. Zarir Udawadia, an infectious disease specialist treating coronavirus patients in Mumbai, recognizes this problem: “How does one quarantine someone who has no home, or someone who lives cheek to jowl with ten others in a small room?”

Those especially discontented with their circumstances resort to migration, seeking to travel sometime hundreds of miles on foot in hopes of refuge. Migrants move through India in thousands, further risking infection from COVID-19 among other lethal diseases.

Who’s Helping

Although it is difficult to collect COVID-19  data in impoverished communities, there are organizations trying to combat this issue directly and provide aid to those suffering from the disease and its aftermath. For instance, Give2Asia provides funding for medical supplies for frontline workers, meals for those whose means of obtaining them are slashed by the effects of the pandemic and financial support to marginalized families.

India’s large number of people in poverty renders their numbers of infected with coronavirus inaccurate. However, the poorest sector of the nation has larger issues than the virus itself, as the nationwide lockdown takes away street vendors’ customers and, in extreme cases, the revenue of beggars. Many people resort to migration or are utilizing slums and government-created hospitals to find shelter. Though this situation is far from optimal, there are numerous organizations and frontliners that are continually combating the pandemic.

– Ava Roberts
Photo: Flickr

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Slums in Ghana: Challenges with Growth

Slums in Ghana

As the urban population of Ghana grew, so did the number of people who live in slums in Ghana. In 2014, according to the World Bank approximately 37.4% of people who live in Ghana’s urban regions lived in slums. After Ghana’s independence in 1957, its urban population grew because many people moved from rural communities to urban regions. The country’s urban community has grown from approximately 36.4% in 1990 to approximately 56.7% in 2019, making it one of the most urbanized countries in Africa. A slum is defined by the UN as “a contiguous settlement where the inhabitants are characterized as having inadequate housing and basic service.” With approximately 5.5 million people living in slums in Ghana, non-government organizations are working in the community to help address some of the problems that the people face such as sanitation and evictions from the government.


Ghana’s Housing Crisis

As young people move into the city to look for jobs and other opportunities, they end up moving to informal settlements because living in formal settlements may be too expensive. Housing in Ghana can be unaffordable to the “urban poor” because the cost of both land and building materials can be too expensive for people to invest in affordable housing. In addition, the government has been slow to respond to the growing need for housing in Ghana. However, in 2015 the government created a new National Housing Policy to address Ghana’s housing needs.


How does the government view the slums?

Old Fadama, one of the largest slums in Accra, is nicknamed by the Ghanaian government and some members of the public, as “Sodom and Gomorrah.” These two biblical cities were destroyed due to their sinful actions. To the people of Old Fadama, the nickname is hurtful because they see it as the government painting a doomed picture of the city to justify evictions. The image also ignores the fact that many people have made a living there. Some residents have recycled electronic waste to make a living. Local organizations, like the Slum Union of Ghana and its international partners such as the Slum Dwellers International, continuously advocate against evictions.


People Living in Slums Face Evictions

Slums, like Akwatia line and Old Fadama in Ghana, are prone to evictions because of the location they are built-in. During evictions, the government often does not provide people living in the slums with alternative housing. In April of 2020, the government ordered the demolition of houses in Old Fadama, one of the oldest slums in Ghana. Approximately 1,000 people were evicted. The reason for the demolition, according to local news sources, was to remove sediment from the lagoon to reduce the risk of flooding.

This is not the first time demolitions have happened. Demolitions between 2003 and 2006 left more than 7,000 people without homes. The demolition that took place this year received criticism because it occurred during COVID-19 when people were asked to stay at home and practice social distancing. Amnesty International has condemned the government for its actions. The treat of demolition makes it difficult for people who live in slums to invest in the places that they live because they may be evicted.


Lack of Sanitation

Another major problem that slums in Ghana face is the lack of adequate sanitation.  Many people who live in slums do not have a bathroom in their place of residence, so they often depend on using public bathrooms. The lack of private or individual restrooms in Ghana does not end with slums. Places of residence and schools can be built without restrooms.

To solve this problem, groups such as the Media Coalition on Open Defecation in Ghana are advocating that the government work toward limiting the number of public defecations. The lack of adequate sanitation increases the risk of getting diarrhea and diseases like cholera. Although the lack of private bathrooms impacts a community negatively, the need for restrooms has provided entrepreneurs with new business ventures because they can charge money for the use of public bathrooms. According to Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) the use of public toilets has become part of the culture in Ghana. Currently, 60% of households in slums use public toilets.

To solve the problem of limited bathrooms in the slum community, WSUP works with Ghana’s Ministry of education to provide schools with “toilet blocks.” Furthermore, one of the innovative ways that the organization has helped is by building toilets that are not connected to sewer systems. These toilets store human waste in cartridges that are taken to a waste treatment facility by a clean team whose job is to then send the waste to a plant and replace the cartridge. The clean team is paid a monthly fee to remove the waste.  The toilets can be placed in residential areas where some people may find it difficult to access a public restroom.

Although the housing crisis in Ghana may look bleak, the government, citizens and non-government organizations are passionate about solving the problem. In 2019, the government of Ghana entered into an agreement with the UN to build 100,000 houses by 2022, a project that would also provide jobs to people in the community.
-Joshua Meribole
Photo: Flickr
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5 NGOs Fighting COVID-19 in Argentina’s Slums

Argentia's slums, Buenos Aires slums
Argentina is the fifth-highest country with the most COVID-19 cases in South America, with 111,000 recorded cases by mid-July. Moreover, Argentina’s COVID-19 related death toll has nearly doubled since June, surpassing 5,000 cases. Confirmed illnesses continue to be on the rise, with more than half concentrated in the urban hotspot of Buenos Aires City. Approximately 88% of all cases in Argentina are reported from within Buenos Aires, its impoverished slums or its surrounding regions.

COVID-19 in Argentina

While the federal government acted early to contain the virus, including imposing a strict nightly curfew since March, Argentina’s most impoverished remain extremely susceptible to COVID-19 and its dire economic consequences. For example, within Buenos Aires’ slums, families often have to sell their homes to afford meals for their families.

Nearly half of all Buenos Aires cases were estimated to be in its slums in late May. In some instances, outbreaks became so alarming that the government would enforce security and fences around these neighborhoods to ensure residents do not spread the virus—at the expense of residents’ increased impoverishment.

Regional non-governmental organizations (NGOs) within Argentina recognized these hardships faced by low-income Argentinians and are currently working to mitigate the health and economic consequences. Here are five NGOs battling COVID-19 in Argentina’s slums.

5 NGOs Fighting COVID-19 in Argentina’s Slums

  1. Chequeado, Spanish for “Checked,” is an online journalism platform that fact-checks public information on Argentinian politics and society. The organization’s website has recently launched a new COVID-19 section to keep citizens informed about the fact-based science behind the virus. The section also covers COVID-19 cases and newly implanted preventative measures. Headlines range from the effectiveness of spraying items with alcohol to the evidence surrounding the transmission of COVID-19 by air. Given the growing number of slum residents having access to the internet due to Argentina’s globalization efforts, this news outlet is accessible to slum residents who would not have access to the information otherwise.
  2. International Organization for Migration, or IOM, works with state and non-state actors to assist migrants through various means, ranging from counter-trafficking to resettlement support. During the COVID-19 pandemic, IOM is working with the Argentine Red Cross to provide food and cleaning supplies to vulnerable migrants. The organization is also ensuring all migrants understand COVID-19 precautions, translating public information to French for migrants from Haiti and Senegal, as well as English for migrants from Jamaica.
  3. Pequeños Pasos, translating to “small steps,” aims to bring sustainable development to the lives of Argentina’s impoverished. While the NGO focuses on missions ranging from education to employment, health and nutrition have been at the forefront of its efforts. Given the looming issue of extreme food insecurity due to COVID-19, Pequeños Pasos has launched an emergency food project to feed more than 12,500 people at risk of hunger in Buenos Aires slums. For a year, the NGO will provide monthly emergency food bags to vulnerable families.
  4. Asociación Civil Ingeniería sin Fronteras Argentina is a civil engineering organization that has taken on the project to quadruple the capacity of ventilators in Argentine hospitals. This solution aims to alleviate the possibility of ICU units reaching over-capacity and providing a sufficient number of ventilators for COVID-19 patients. The project aims to raise $7,015 to expand Argentina’s existing ventilator capacity, potentially saving thousands of Argentine lives. As a disproportionate number of slum-dwellers are contracting the virus, this aid will help them overcome the effects of COVID-19.
  5. Las Tunas is an education-based NGO that offers children and adolescents various educational resources, including scholarships and arts empowerment classes. In light of the socio-economic effects of COVID-19, the organization has expanded its efforts to help families remain economically stable. New website resources include a “Monitoring, Accompaniment and Early Detections” program that helps set up productive quarantine routines for families. The NGO also has a unique “Economic Development” program, which provides families with business strategies and training materials to increase household incomes. Original educational programs for youth are now also delivered online.

Looking Ahead

While COVID-19 cases in Argentina have overwhelmingly affected the country’s impoverished populations, diverse civil society organizations are working to combat the effects of COVID-19 in Argentina’s slums. Whether through economic empowerment or preventing misinformation on COVID-19, these five NGOs aim to stabilize Argentina’s most marginalized’s living conditions during the pandemic.

—Breana Stanski
Photo: Flickr