Early in the lockdown I expressed hope that the difficulties we were going through were sparking a new level of altruism. This is part of what I wrote: The most striking aspect was seeing how many others had the same idea as us. We found that the neighbors helping our efforts had done their own …
Category: Stranger Stories
Stories of our lives in the slum and other marginalized settings
Strategies collide
It was past 9pm, past curfew, shops closed and streets dark as I returned from distributing snacks to the rickshaw drivers. The only people outside were others sneaking home from "essential" tasks and small groups of men hanging out near their doors to take advantage of the cooling air. I don't remember what I first …
Another baby
The woman stopped Peregrine in the alleyway. "Save my daughter! Please, someone has to save my daughter!" Her daughter, a good friend of Peregrine's, had gone into labor that day. They had tried four different hospitals and been turned away from each one, either because of overcrowding or COVID fears or just excuses. Their fifth …
Our friend Aslam
We met Aslam due to his friendship with another foreigner in our city. The two of them had collaborated and been close personal friends for perhaps a decade. From the beginning Aslam was keenly interested in our educational work in the slum and told us he'd do anything to help. Over the years as we …
The worst day of my life
Please don't read this if you are sensitive. I imagine this account will upset some of my friends. It wasn't easy for me to write. A week after her birthday party, Shakeenah came down with a stomach bug. She started vomiting even from just drinking her mother's milk or water, and by the second day …
Alia
Alia passed away on Monday morning at 11:30am. The last time I saw her was the Wednesday before, when I violated the lockdown to give her sisters their salaries and a little extra for Alia's medicine and other needs. She was asleep so I was just in and out. The last time I had spoken …
The normalcy of crisis
People collapsing unable to breathe. Hospitals stretched past their limits of space and manpower. Life-and-death decisions over who gets a ventilator and who does not. In the worst-hit countries hundreds of people are dying every day. The West has not experienced this in our lifetime. But here it is familiar. In September I shared Alia's …
Locked down in a little home (video)
I've never posted a video, but there's a first time for everything. More firsts than usual in these strange days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPIWQE1Gi9A Last night we had been on local lockdown since Sunday when the prime minister ordered a complete national lockdown of 21 days. The order claims we cannot leave our home, though later clarifications …
Beauty as deep as the need
A post by Peregrine In the face of the ugliness I know is more visible, I ask myself, "What do I find beautiful in our city?" Yes big gorgeous cow eyes everywhere, living with gecko friends on our walls....but deeper underneath there is more, more I believe anyone will see and appreciate and be humbled …
A Christmas gift
Christmas! It marked one year since we started teaching at the little slum under the bridge. I wanted to try something special for them. We ended up making our way over in the morning with a bag of gifts in one hand and Shakeenah doing her stern Santa impression in the other. It was a …
Stranger in a Slum 