In Delhi's Slums
Slums can be unbelievably crowded, with families of up to 8 living in one room. They often have no roads, water supply, toilets, sewers, or electricity. Clean water is brought into some slums by truck daily, and families can collect it in containers.
Residents come from various backgrounds - some who have lived there all their lives, refugees, and migrants from other parts of India who have come to Delhi looking for work. Some can only find a space to live near rivers, but when the rivers flood in the monsoon season they have to leave their huts and take
refuge on nearby streets.
Slum residents are largely overlooked by the authorities, who see the problem as too big to deal with. In theory, people living in slums have access to healthcare, education and employment. In practice, the services are either non-existent, inadequate or too far away to access. Slum residents often work as waste pickers, labourers, cleaners, cycle rickshaw drivers, or street vendors.
Some homes can only be accessed up narrow ladders.
Many residents cook outside their homes because of the cramped conditions.
Many homes don’t have windows or water taps.
Ambassador's Experiences
Hanaru's Ambassadors are amazing! We'd like to share Priyanka's words and experiences about distributing napkin packs in many of Delhi's slums. Her words are echoed by the other Ambassadors.
“Initially, some girls were shy or hesitant to engage, but as sessions progressed, they became more open and curious. Many girls expressed relief at finally understanding their bodies and feeling empowered to manage their periods effectively ... seeing girls grow more confident and proud as they learn to manage their periods with dignity and self-assurance. "
"Some parents required more reassurance and information but ultimately agreed to their daughters participating in the programs. However, parents were generally supportive once they understood the importance of menstrual education in their daughters’ lives. We faced issues with the approval of parents as most of the parents are working they won’t be available on the spot they have called them to ask and it takes many steps because not all parents have personal cell phones In this case they called their parent’s boss and colleagues.
Some slum people are very good and they respect our initiative. They want to contribute to the environment. Some people were not comfortable talking about periods because of strong cultural beliefs. This made it harder to teach them about menstrual health. Some are very rude in the community and they won’t listen to us.
One big challenge was getting napkins to faraway places. Most of the slums are very far from the metro, bus stands so we have to carry napkins a long way and slum streets are very unhygienic and have drainage system issues. We have to cross all these paths to distribute napkins.
Many girls shared their experiences that Hanaru napkins help them to participate in sports activities without any issues as they feel comfortable and don’t face any infection and itching problems.”
Bawana Slum
Bawana is a resettlement colony located northwest of Delhi, the national capital. It houses more than 9,000 families in five main blocks. Most of the colony’s original inhabitants are families whose slums were forcibly evicted by the government from the central area of the city over 10 years ago.
Kayoko, Priyanka, and Chika a visiting volunteer from Japan were stunned to see this slum, Even though Priyanka has been to many slums she was still taken aback by the conditions here.
Slum visit
Kayoko wanted to learn more about life in the slums and take an in-depth look at the living conditions of families in the slums where we are distributing napkin packs.
Priyanka organised for them to meet with families of girls who had received napkins. In fact, they were overrun with invitations from families, happy to share their way of life.
They invited Kayoko and Priyanka into their homes and were happy for her to take photos of where they lived. In many homes, the living conditions were too cramped for images to show the living conditions.
Kayoko writes: “Their houses are located on the lower land from a man-made channel. It is obvious that if it rained heavily, they would be underwater. The channel was full of rubbish but some water flowed through it.
The girls who walked with us along the river bank astonished us when they proudly told us that the river was clean and that they swam there in the summer.
There was a large group ready to welcome us including the girls, their mothers, sisters, aunties and boys from the neighbourhood who were curious to discover what was happening in their colony. Two community lady helpers also welcomed us.”
Homes at Bawana Slum.
Napkin pack distribution at Bawana Slum.
Kayoko with a family at Bawana Slum.
A home in Bawana slum
“After the distribution of Hanaru napkins, they invited us to their homes to have chai and talk with them. They were proud that they had their sweet homes. The home in the photos was much larger than some I went in and the family was happy for me to take photos.
It was getting dark when we decided to leave. So many girls with bright smiles followed us to the bridge and kept saying to us, “Bye-bye, come again." As we were leaving small trucks brought more garbage to add to the huge piles already there."
"Such life! Such conditions! As an observer, I can only hope for their well-being and happiness.
In times like this, we face the harsh reality, that our help can only improve a small portion of their lives.”
“The garbage gives them an income to buy food for their family. No one in Delhi wants the garbage but them. Just one word to describe it – Unreal!”
Many community toilet blocks are unusable with doors and taps ripped out. Some toilet blocks look pristine in Internet photos, but the two Rupee charge to use them can be out of reach for many households. They use the toilet once a day, only when they have extra cash, and resort to open defecation the rest of the time. One slum has a large toilet block but needs to serve over 10,000 residents.
Whilst a 2 Rupee charge - about 3.5 Australian cents - may not seem a lot, with an average household income of 5,000 rupees a month, and household sizes of around 8 people per family (including for example 3 generations living together), this can amount each month to 15-20% of their total income (2 Rupees per person per visit x 8 people x 2 times a day x 30 days = 960 Rupees per month), which would impact significantly on all other essential items for living. In comparison, a single person working full time at the Australian minimum wage would earn the equivalent of around 193,000 Rupees per month.
Open Defecation
According to the Indian Government, the country became "open-defecation-free" in October 2019. In reality, many people there still do not have access to hygienic, working toilets - the World Bank has India at 11% of its population practising open defecation as of 2022[1]. Many of the girls in Delhi, where the Ambassadors are distributing napkins, don't have access to toilets at school.
[1] People practicing open defecation (% of population) - India, The World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.ODFC.ZS?end=2022&locations=IN&start=2000&view=chart, viewed on 28/1/24
Two of the homes that Kayoko visited had toilets and taps.
Toilet Blocks
Slum Toilets
Many slum homes lack taps or a toilet and residents bring water into their homes in containers.
Some girls have to wash their napkins in communal washing areas and some have a tiny area in their home where they can wash their napkins.