Bhandup, India - Where Poverty and Prosperity Meet: A Field Report

Our activities in India were in jeopardy last year. Donations were not enough to continue. When our supporter Salomé Handschin learned about this, she immediately offered to help us. Not only financially, but also as a volunteer project manager for India. To determine how we can help most effectively, she spontaneously traveled to India for four weeks. What she experienced during her trip and how those experiences affect her work as a project manager for India, she tells in the following travel report. Her conclusion is clear: Our work in Mumbai is urgently needed and highly valued.

«Through Khalil Radi, who also worked at ZKB like me, I became aware of Buy Food with Plastic. I became a member around May 2022. A few months later, I learned that the activities in India might be temporarily suspended because not enough donations had been received. I have already traveled to India twice and thus know the country a little. I had also already gained insight into the underprivileged communities of this world and know that help is needed. The association had already invested a lot in the development in India. Shakti Yadav, the Country Manager, is passionately committed. And since I consider the work of Buy Food with Plastic to be important, I knew immediately: I want to help and contribute to our ability to continue operating in India.

The suburb of Bhandup in Mumbai, India, according to Google Maps.

And so I set off on my journey to Mumbai on November 11, 2022. On the one hand, I wanted to gain insight into the underprivileged communities (I don't like the term "slums") of Bhandup, where Buy Food with Plastic is active. On the other hand, I also wanted to make contact with local organizations that can support us on the ground. But also to learn from them how they organize their work in the poor communities and implement projects. Before my trip, I had already scheduled appointments with the ZKB representation and the Swiss Business Hub in Mumbai, as well as organized a visit to Dharavi. There, I also wanted to visit the local organizations Mother Teresa Foundation, Compound 13 Lab, and the ACORN India foundation, and learn as much as possible about the work of an NGO in the poor neighborhoods. And I did!

I saw so many exciting things, experienced surprising things, and learned new things. Reporting on it would break the frame, so I will summarize the events. The most important takeaway from my trip is: The residents of Bhandup appreciate the work of the aid organizations on the ground. The schools for children, education programs for adults, medical facilities, food aid, and much more contribute significantly to improving the quality of life. What's more: They offer real prospects for a better future. Our commitment, and that of all the other organizations on the ground, is not only important, but also right!

Shakti Yadav, Country Manager India (left) and Salomé Handschin, volunteer project manager for India Operations (right) in Mumbai, India.

Bhandup – A multifaceted community

Bhandup is one of the oldest suburbs in northern Mumbai with approx. 700,000 residents (as of 2001). Like so many communities in India, Bhandup is also divided into more affluent neighborhoods (Bhandup West) and slums. Khindipada belongs to the better-off areas and is well organized. A striking high-rise building defines the image of the neighborhood. However, most families live in small houses or simple one-room huts where they sleep, cook, and live. These huts are simply furnished. Where light and soil conditions allow, some families have a small garden where they grow vegetables and fruit.

Mam, the community leader, shows me around. At the school, a small surprise awaits me: "The children already have basic English skills before they start school," she explains. "This is thanks to the volunteers who teach the children English," she says with a little pride. The parents earn a living either as day laborers, rickshaw drivers, domestic workers, or have permanent employment in small businesses. The fact that the children can attend free school during the day is a great relief for the parents. During the day, the children are cared for instead of performing illegal child labor. And through education, they get better prospects for the future. After school, if they cannot go home yet, they can do homework or study for exams in the classroom. The neighbors help each other. Whether with childcare, the sick, or the elderly. What is very obvious is that food is needed. Especially for the elderly who can hardly provide for themselves.

In contrast to Khindipada, in the east of Bhandup is the Hanuman Naga neighborhood. A large wall separates this slum from the more affluent surroundings. Probably to hide that Hanuman Naga is located at the foot of a former garbage mountain, which is still only partially decomposed and stinks terribly. The drinking water point is only about 2 km away. The people live in dwellings that can hardly be called huts. Or in tents made of plastic tarpaulins, where they sleep on the bare ground. The sight of this settlement and the undignified living conditions shock me!

Together with Shakti, I visit other settlements in the Bhandup district. We visit schools, I talk to the residents about their lives and their needs, exchange ideas with aid organizations on the ground. What is particularly impressive: Education is one of the most important goods in all of Bhandup! Girls and boys share their career dreams and goals with me: they want to become hotel managers, doctors, chemists, or engineers.

In the slums of Bhandup, sanitary facilities are only sparingly available. The few toilets are public, there are no sewage pipes. Clean drinking water is also only sparingly available. Most residents fetch water from specific places, which are partly kilometers away. If a settlement is lucky enough to have an electrician among the residents, then there is also electricity. Garbage piles up everywhere: at the water points, on the paths and roads, in the gardens, and even in the adjacent jungle. As one resident tells me, garbage is a major problem, especially during the monsoon season: "The rain is heavy and leads to flooding. The garbage then flows with the water, sometimes even into the houses. Or it clogs the few drainage possibilities, so that the floods rise even higher than usual," she complains. Conditions that we cannot imagine in Switzerland.

A tour through Dharavi, the largest underprivileged community in Asia

In Dharavi, I want to meet some established foundations and aid organizations to learn from them. What do we need to pay attention to when implementing aid projects? Who could we work with? How can we make the greatest possible impact? How do we best deal with the local authorities? My list of questions is long.

First, we take a tour through Dharavi. With approx. 1 million residents, it is the largest underprivileged community in Asia. Dharavi has the infrastructure of a small town: commercial spaces, potteries, food markets, gyms, hairdressers, bakeries, etc. are available. Dharavi is also known for the recycling and upcycling of waste material. In small production facilities, clothing, fabrics, plastic, or aluminum are processed. In these small businesses, we gained exciting insights into Dharavi's recycling process. Really everything that can somehow be processed is used. Whether as production material that is sold on to appropriate businesses, or as new products that the residents can afford. The creativity in terms of reuse fascinates Shakti so much that he wants to spend a few days here in Dharavi in the coming months to learn more from the local upcyclers.

The visit to the Dharavi Compound 13 Lab is very impressive. The facility was founded by Vinod Shetty. He is a lawyer, advocates for the poorest and the unions in Mumbai. He is also the founder of the ACORN Foundation India, which is part of ACORN International. Vinod Shetty is very well known and well connected in Mumbai. For the Dharavi community, he initiates projects that are intended to bring about social changes. He also has valuable knowledge and extensive experience in the field of waste utilization. We are happy and grateful that he wants to share this knowledge with us, and look forward to future meetings to learn even more from him.

Support from local authorities

Meetings with state representations, local authorities, lawyers, or chambers of commerce are also on the agenda. What sounds like a somewhat boring task was actually exciting and extremely pleasing!

The meeting with Vijay Iyer, trade commissioner at the Swiss Business Hub in Mumbai, was particularly successful. Shakti has been in contact with him for some time. So Vijay welcomes us warmly, immediately asks for news about Buy Food with Plastic. We report on the small progress of the last few months and tell him about our plans for India. When he learns about the planned factory, he immediately tells us where we can find suitable premises and who could help us with the setup. He invites us – and especially Shakti – to the SICC, the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce (SICC) in Mumbai. By participating in events, Shakti gets the opportunity to make valuable contacts with potential donors or partners and establish our association in Mumbai (and beyond). And as the icing on the cake, Vijay arranges a visit of the Swiss delegation to our location in Bhandup, where we can present our project on the ground. A completely successful meeting! What more could we wish for?

From left to right: Salomé Handschin and Shakti Yadav, Buy Food with Plastic, with Vijay Iyer at the Swiss Business Hub in Mumbai, India.

The meeting with the ZKB representation in Mumbai gives us similar feelings of happiness. We meet the representative Ashish Gupta and the office manager Geeticka Pant, who also welcome us warmly. We introduce our association, tell them about our activities in Bhandup and the planned projects. Both show great interest, give us important suggestions regarding implementation and procedure. And, especially important, they offer us their support.

I was particularly happy about the meeting with the Happie Foundation. Together with this foundation, we organize our community events and conduct them together. We shop together, share the required infrastructure, and thus also the costs. Without this cooperation, we could hardly carry out the community events in Bhandup.

Community Event by Buy Food with Plastic in Kihindipada, Bhandup, Mumbai, in cooperation with the Happy Foundation and our recycling partner Recircle (February 2022).

And then there is the visit to our partner ReCircle, a company for resource recovery. They support us in preventing plastic waste from ending up in landfills or in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Instead, we return the plastic waste to the economy through recycling in cooperation. Our goal is to independently ensure this cycle in the medium term with our own factory. This has many advantages: We do not need to transport the plastic waste over greater distances (e.g., to the recycling provider), we ensure that the collected plastic waste is recycled, and last but not least, we offer jobs on the ground under fair and safe conditions.

Our impact is noticeable

After my exciting trip to India and the incredible experiences in Mumbai, I would like to point out the following:

There are countless Indian NGOs and NPOs that do great work for the local population in all areas of life. With a population of approx. 1.4 billion, these organizations cannot reach all people with their help. That is why it is also important that foreign institutions - like Buy Food with Plastic - support them in this gigantic task. It was very overwhelming to see how many people - also young people - do volunteer work in their respective communities in their free time. It deeply touched me to see how naturally people help within the family and the neighborhood, make the everyday life of needy fellow human beings easier, and thus bring joy. This feeling of togetherness has made a lasting impression on me!

These people have become role models for me. My deepest respect and gratitude go to all these committed people!

Namasté!»

Awareness Event by Buy Food with Plastic in Bhandup, Mumbai, India. (February 2023).