As I've shared about life in the slum, I've focused on material things: homes, electricity, water, etc. With that stuff it's relatively simple to measure the differences between life here and in the West. But as you may have discerned from the incident with Alia as well as the boys on the train, there are …
Continue reading Capital matters. Social capital matters more.
Friday, August 30th "Alia is really sick. She's been having some trouble breathing, and now she doesn't even know what's going on around her when people come in." "That's serious. You should take her to the hospital right away. How long has she been like this?" "Since last night, but only the worst since …
(apologies for the unfinished version that posted early) People tell us not to drink the city water, though some of the poorest families around us do. We run all the water we intend to drink through a ceramic water filter, and hope that is enough to make the city water safe to drink. At least …
Continue reading Water water everywhere…who gets a drop to drink?
The electricity just went out for four hours. It wouldn't have been a problem...except the one appliance we're running in the middle of the day is the ceiling fan. That matters in August. Thank God it was only 90 degrees with manageable humidity, one of the more pleasant days we've had. But little Shakeenah struggled …
Most folk don't want to hear me talk about slums. I once thought that slum life would make this blog unique. The internet is saturated with almost everything, but there aren't many English-speaking slum bloggers. Maybe people wouldn't want to hear what I had to say about money, power, or nonviolence, but at least they'd …
The tiny girl in front of me was learning to read with incredible speed. Though she only knew three letters when she started, by the second lesson she could identify ten letters and combine them to form words. By her 16th lesson she had memorized the entire alphabet (there are more than 50 letters in ours) …
Dèyè mòn gen mòn. Beyond mountains there are mountains. HAITIAN PROVERB ...And right action is freedom From past and future also. For most of us, this is the aim Never here to be realized; Who are only undefeated Because we have gone on trying… T.S. ELIOT, “THE DRY SALVAGES” Mountains Beyond Mountains is …
Last week Holly mentioned that plastic recycling is in trouble in America too. I found out from an article in the Atlantic that cities across the country have ended their recycling programs. Why? Because China has stopped accepting our soiled trash due to health risks, environmental damage, and increased labor costs. Without tens of thousands of Chinese …
The funny aspect of the whole thing was when she came over and started beating my students, my initial response was to shrug and continue with the lesson. Let's back up. Two months ago I started a literacy class in a poor community next to the bridge. Makeshift huts climb the river's banks and line …
In desiring to include more success stories about charities doing the right thing, I solicited a guest post from Jeph Mathias. Jeph works with a variety of NGOs across Asia (and beyond), specializing in the idea of complexity in development. This story was originally posted at Jeph's blog, unpredictable. It's Jeph from here: A small project …
Stranger in a Slum 