Deonar - The Dumping Ground

I thought I had seen the worst of Mumbai until today. At 10.30, Pradeep drove me to the largest dumping ground in Mumbai where we were to meet the yellow bus. I could not believe what I saw. This is the area where lots of the rubbish, that is collected in Mumbai, is dumped and people live amongst it. The smell can only be described as intoxicating and the conditions that these people live in are awful. It is so unhygenic for the children, who smell as bad as the air, and I have never seen so many flies in one place before. The children obviously get used to the flies which in some ways makes it worst because they do nothing and the flies will hover around their faces. Many of the people spend their day trampling through all the rubbish trying to find plastic and metal that they can sell. On a good day some of them will make 200 rupees (approx. £3) from the rubbish they collect. Many off the children do not where shoes but they do make a bit of an effort to smarten themselves up when they come onto the bus. This is encouraged by the teacher to try and improve the children's level of hygiene. Normally visitors are not allowed on the bus here because it is a high Muslim area and some of the locals get suspicious about foreigners. It is also where part of Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. Unfortunately, it was the scene where the boys are taken from their tent by the mafia group so some people have become very cautious. Pradeep did allow me onto the bus which was great because I got to interact with the kids.

In the afternoon, Pradeep took me shopping along with a group of visitors from Australia. I didn't actually buy anything this time but it was still good to look around. I was followed most of the afternoon by a group of small homeless children who wanted money. Instead, I bought them some sandwhiches, gave them some water and sent them on their way. In the evening we walked along Juhu beach which was packed. We even stopped for a quick game of cricket with a group of lads. Another emotionally tough day but it motivates me even more to help Vision Rescue give these children a future they are entitled to!