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May 25, 2010 Mumbai, India
The Fight Continues…..
Two weeks ago, DWP’s construction of the new school in the Saki Naka slum community ground to a halt after BMC officials denied us permission to build. In the last two weeks we have continued working sporadically, finishing our first floor, while attempting to sort things out with the powers that be.
This has been a very frustrating time for me. Hundreds of phone calls have been made to government offices including several visits in person. The problem is that there are several different groups we are trying to get permission from, and fighting a war on several fronts is never easy. The first group is an independent contracting company called the “Urban Hawk” security force. The slum where we are building the school is on a government water pipeline. This security force monitors the pipeline and reports daily to supervisors on any construction or damage being done to the pipeline. The “Urban Hawks” were responsible for shutting us down the last time, but after meeting with BMC officials we were told we could continue construction on the bottom floor.
The other group is known as the demolition squad of the BMC. The group’s headquarters are in a building called L-ward. This group goes around Mumbai demolishing and destroying illegal buildings. There is an all out war against slum dwellers and everyday there are photographs in the newspaper of slum homes being demolished by the BMC. The war is mainly against newer slum developments, as people from all over the country continue to flood into the city of dreams. We have focused our attention on this group (the demolition squad) for the past 10 days, speaking several times to the man in charge of our area. This man has promised us countless times to come and see our work, with hopes of coming to some type of agreement or “settlement”. Growing tired of false promises, Ashley and I went to the office to speak with him directly. This time, as I tried to head past security into L-ward, I was denied access. They told me it was because I had a camera, even though I have been in the building twice before with a camera. Sitting outside, frustrated, I waited for Ashley to return. Moments later Ashley returned, frustrated as well, as the officer we needed had already gone home. Fast forward another few days with no return phone calls, we decided to send Ashley to the office early in the morning to camp out in the hallway and wait for him to arrive. I waited anxiously 15 kms away, staring at my phone, wishing for good news from Ashley. My patience was rewarded. Ashley was able to speak with the ‘man in charge’ and he told us to start construction again!
This was amazing news and Ashley and I met the next morning to get things going again. We are now facing two other problems. The new school year starts in a few weeks and we desperately want the school finished and open for the children. The second problem is mother nature…the yearly monsoon season is due anytime within the next three weeks which will bring heavy rains and flooding. The monsoon rains have been pounding southern India and the monsoon is slowly making it’s way north to us in Mumbai.
To speed up construction, we have hired a local contractor who has already done some work on our school, to finish the upper floor.We ordered 1000 bricks, a truckload of sand and cement, and for the first time in ten days, I was excited about the school project again. Progress was being made.
I arrived this morning at 8 a.m., giddy as a child on Christmas morning, excited to start building again. A team of fifteen workers arrived by 9 a.m. and began moving the bricks and cement to our construction site. To begin construction, Basuraj, (the contractor) in a quick ceremony, cracks a young coconut and drips the milk over our new bricks while lighting incense to bless our work and continued construction. At this point I am willing to partake in any ceremony that might help us finish the school. This is also the first time women have been a part of our construction team. Five women in beautiful sarees, began shovelling sand into bags weighing more than 70 lbs, loaded the bags onto their heads and moved them through the slum to the school. I was blown away by the strength and work ethic these women possessed, which was far more than their masculine counterparts.
Two hours later, the team of masons had completed the perimeter wall and I could finally see our vision of the school taking shape.The women continued to move heavy loads of bricks to and from the main road. By lunch time the back wall of the second floor was almost built, all the raw materials had been shifted to the school from the road, and it finally looked as though our school would become a reality very soon.
As our workers took a well deserved lunch break in the shade, Ashley and I headed for lunch as well. We discussed new ideas to beautify the school and were so happy to be working again.
As we made our way back from lunch, Ashley’s phone began to ring. One look at the caller ID and his face lost all traces of happiness as he told me the name of the caller. Our old friends at “Urban Hawk” were back and awaiting our return at the school. As we neared the site I could see all fifteen of our workers sitting in front of the school, looking up at the three officials. The officials were mad that we had started to build again. After twenty minutes of heated debate and several phone calls to other offices to locate our so-called allies, we lost the battle. So, once again our construction has been stopped! After the officials left, we phoned our one and only friend at the BMC to see if he could help us. He too, told us to stop building, to wait for him to speak with a senior official, and he would get back to us in a few days.
Once again we wait…
With all the trouble we are having, you would think DWP was building a casino, or a brothel, not a small school where the children of Saki Naka will receive free education. With each passing day as our deadline grows harder to achieve, I sit in front of our half-built school, watching as children run and play seemingly unaware of the troubles we’re having trying to give them the education that they so deserve.
We may have lost another battle today, but the war is far from over. The Dirty Wall Project and Janvi will continue to do everything in our power to make this school a reality. I hope that the men in charge will see the light soon, and help us help the children of India make their country stronger…
“the fight continues..”
Sincerely,
Kane Ryan
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