I was happily surprised to see this article in the Guardian recently:
Helping build a future for children in Mumbai
Last October, I was privileged to spend some time in Mumbai as part of a CSCLeaders programme. We spent a morning at a creche run by this organisation, and it was probably the most enlightening visit of our stay.
Building sites in India are very different to those in the UK. (yes, the photo above is of a building site). Labour is cheap, and is used in preference to mechanisation. Many of the labourers are itinerant workers from agricultural areas who have relocated with their families. They are housed in makeshift accommodation (seen here on the left).
The women typically labour alongside the men, leaving the children unsupervised. This seems unacceptable by western standards, but we very quickly learned that things are very different in India.
The organisation that runs these creches have to persuade the owners of the building site to give them access, and then to provide a safe space for the creche. At the site that we visited, this was a bare concrete shell which had been fitted out with the bare essentials by the charity.
But it was amazing. The children were happy, bright and well fed. A doctor comes on a regular basis, and the charity can provide food and clothes for those children in need. Most importantly, in a country where there is no mandatory primary education, the children are taught at a level appropriate to their age so that they at least receive the basics.
Of course, it’s sad that this kind of charity is needed, but I’m grateful for those children and their creche for challenging my view of the world and showing me how much can be achieved with so little.
Beth Lawton 