Im not Gandhi and Im not Mother Teresa. Poverty, charity, inequity, geo-politics, good and bad fortune or whatever factors that decide where people end up have been around a long, long time. What Im saying isnt new and Im certainly not a mega-rich philanthropist or benevolent person of status and influence. I do however like to I think that like many others over the years Ive tried an awful lot to help the less fortunate where I can and inspire people to think a little bit beyond themselves - to look at the often uncomfortable bigger picture stuff. To be honest Ive become a bit disillusioned because generally, it feels like its fallen upon deaf or unwilling ears. I have passport stamps from about 70 countries, most of them developing ones, where the majority of people were not as lucky to be born in a place like I was. I guess I feel entitled enough to have an opinion and Ive seen a lot of awful things first hand - Im thankful for it. Today I took another reality trip, this time through Dharavi slum - its where they filmed Slumdog Millionaire, Im sure youve seen it. That film, unfortunately, didnt really help the 1 million or so people that live well below the poverty line there, in fact it portrayed them as criminals and undesirables a bit, which couldnt really be further from the truth. Most of these people, wherever they came from to end up in Mumbai, just didnt get dealt a good hand and thats it, it would seem. I dont know everyones individual story from spending a day there. Regardless, there is an informal economy and a school with one teacher to every 80 or so jubilant kids in a run down building. There are markets and various industries including recycling, leather manufacturing and pottery. Like children and most people Ive met all over the world that live in pretty terrible circumstances, games are still played in the filthy streets, a hello is met with a hello, a smile is still cracked from a worn and weathered face and people take pride in what they are doing in spite of what looks like a pretty bleak day to day existence. Sadly of course, disease is still a major problem, the trash and pollution was some of the worst Ive seen anywhere, incomes are tiny and living quarters even more so etc. etc. - obviously, its a really shitty situation overall. Yes there are slums and people in need all over the world, though Dharavi is very large on an international scale (535 acres), and being situated in a monsoonal urban area, suffers the effects of flooding acutely. Theres one inadequate toilet for every 1400 people or so - its basically an open sewer for the most part. I could go on but you probably get the picture...the people need help and there are ways in which that help can be delivered. If you want to take a second to find out who is doing what Google is your friend, or you can message me. I wasnt sure about posting photos out of respect, but these are most likely nameless faces to most people anyway - perhaps this post can inspire just one person to help, and at the least remind whoever reads it that we seem to forget all too easily anyone that isnt a close friend, family or Kardashian...and I personally find that to be a bit of a tragedy. On a brighter note, today im going to be an extra in major Bollywood movie! Pics and story in due time. Be good, and if not, be good at it.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 19:08:10 +0000