Lasting Impressions of India

I'd like to say that my lasting impressions of India will be of these wonderful places but if I'm honest I think I'll be walking away thinking how is it possible for us (Western 'developed' countries and people) to just sit back and ignore the extreme poverty we're faced with in this

country, in every city, down every alley.

In Delhi for example, I spent the day driving around in a taxi seeing some incredible sights and places of worship. I expected to see a variety in the areas from 'run-down' to the 'built up'. What I saw was a mixture of 'run down' to 'no longer standing'.

This is not to say there are no 'rich areas' in Delhi, it just its seems you'd have to look hard to find it. Supposedly, there are only 22% of people in India living below the poverty line, but this seems a giant leap to make when the a recent article has come out in The Times of India claiming that people living on between 32 and 47 rupees a day (34p to 50p) shouldn't be considered poor. Yes, you can buy a samosa for 10 rupees here but you certainly can't live a healthy life, needless to say you couldn't live a decent family life on this!

So my lasting impression is one that actually leaves me with heartache. I know I've only been here a short time and I've only been through and seen places only in the north of India but the the general standard of living seems to be a small room per family. I saw other places like long areas of makeshift houses, made out of a bed sheet or plastic sheet on top and tents but up together too, and I also saw families without any home with small children with little or no clothes.

On our tour with G Adventures we saw a Non-governmental Organisation, a Charity and

children's shelter know as Salaam Baalak Trust. Here we were taken on a tour of the back streets of Delhi where children might sleep and be found by gangs. There are approximately 100,000 street children in Delhi alone but even this is considered to be an drastic underestimation.

We saw one of the few Salaam Baalak Shelters in Delhi for children. It was a small building that had two larger rooms that also doubled up as a dormitory for around 50 kids that come and go. The mattresses were piled up high in the corner. The kitchen was the size of a small bathroom.

The children might have run away from home because they were beaten, or they may have been rejected by their family; the Trust tries to reconnect the children with their family if it's safe. Some were picked up by gangs and were cut, scarred and disfigured to encourage people to give money to them. One small boy, of no older than 8 had a deep scar from his left lower eye lid to the bottom of his cheek. On the streets in Agra, I saw a girl of 5 with horrific acid burns on her right side of her face, she was begging for money.

Without trivialising, what you see happen in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, is pretty much spot on. The girls on the street will also be picked up but are made to work in the gangs squats or are forced into prostitution.

The Trust tries to motivate children to want to get an education and qualifications, it encourages

them to dream and aspire to do greater things with their life. The older children, at 16 and above have the option of working for the trust too, earning money by running tours, like the one I saw, and sharing their stories with tourists. When I returned yesterday to find out more, I got to know more of their own horrific backgrounds but they were just determined to forge their own paths. Former children of the Trust have gone on to universities around the world from the UK to the USA. One 16 year old boy I met ran away from home because he was beaten by his father when he wouldn't agree to be an Imam for a mosque, like his father. He wants to be a teacher of English or Science. Another boy, 17, beaten by his uncle and ran away, aspired to be a TV Anchor.

Seeing the poverty in India made me feel powerless to help, the problem is overwhelming but knowing that there are charities like the Salaam Baalak Trust gave me hope that there are people who are fighting to make changes.

It also gave me a way to make a difference, by speaking out, informing my friends and family and showing you a place you can donate even the smallest amount to change the lives of young people who have already experienced more than a lifetime's worth of pain and suffering.

I'll definitely be coming back home armed with a new charity fundraise for, but as that won't be for a while perhaps this will do; a little bit of raising awareness and perhaps some donations too?? See the website below or contact me if you feel inclined to do so...

http://www.salaambaalaktrust.com/

#poverty #india