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Night walk
This walk had the purpose of visiting homeless people in Delhi who had been given the opportunity of living in tents
in this cold season.
Our expectations were to actually see people sleeping on the streets, so it was a nice surprise to see that some of
those poor people actually have a blanket and a "bed".
The shelters were located near to the Yamuna River and put up by the organization IGSSS. The first two shelters
we visited were for men only, while the third (located near to Old Delhi) was for children, women and whole families.
The people live with very few possessions but don't have to suffer hunger, because the organizations distribute food
twice a day. Unfortunately, not all the homeless who need help are catered for, because the government does not help them.
We found the excursion very interesting and instructive, because we saw the differences between their lives and our lives
Viola, Elvira, 25. January 2011
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Our Experience in Old Dehli
At 18.00, classes from nine to twelve met at the German School. We had a short briefing what we were going to experience on our trip to Old Dehli. Our journey started at 18.30 and took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach our first destination.
We saw several tents located to the river banks of the Yamuna River.
Of course, everyone was curios what we were going to see. We were shocked, as we entered the tent seeing old and young people with nothing but their bare clothes. We did not see any washing facilities or toilettes. They maybe wash themselves in the dirty and filthy water of the Yamuna. Approximately, about 60 people were capable of sleeping in one tent. The"I.G.S.S.S."(Indo Global Social Service Society) and MISEREOR are trying to help these people and even supply them with daily meals and water.
We did not feel really comfortable entering their "private" home. So Lukas and I stayed outside most of the time. We thought it was quite rude, to see how some people from the street live and try to earn their daily bread, as if these people were a tourist attraction to the wealthy people. As we stood and listened to our guide, we discovered that behind the tents was a cremation ground. We could smell the foul stench of bodies being burned.
We soon left the tents, and went on to our 2nd and final destination in Jama Masjid at 21.10 pm.
In our first destination, only men were sheltered.
But in Jama Masjid, families such as women and children had found shelter. These are run by the NGO "Butterflies". This let us feel more comfortable, because children belong to their mother. But still, it was not nice to see, in which conditions these children have to grow up. We all had to admit a soft grin when we saw a television in one of the tents. Unfortunately, no PS3 or Xbox 360 to play with.
After we finally finished our tour through not so wealthy parts of Delhi, we had a meal at Karim's, a recommended restaurant in these parts of the city.
We all, every student and teacher got an idea of how other people live and create their way of live. How they go through the day with a smile on their face even though their low life conditions.
At 22.50, we headed back to the school and at 23.10 we arrived tired and worn out.
All in all, this was a very successful journey and we all learned a lot and made us think about our possession and life style.
Kieran Mullins and Lukas Arnhold, 25.1.2011
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Night walk in old Delhi
We started off at the school at around 19:00 o'clock after a briefing about what we were about to see, when we would arrive at the homeless shelters.
We arrived at the fist night shelters next to the Yamuna River at 20:45 o'clock. The first shelters we saw were exclusively for men and were built by the NGO IGSSS (Indo Global social services society) and it housed about 60 people. They would provide food (breakfast, dinner) shortly after that we continued to the next shelter, it was significantly bigger than the previous one since it is capable of housing up to 100 people. The representative of the NGO IGSSS (Indu) told us about the "first come first serve" rule in the tents which tells us that there are no fixed places in the tents for any particular visitors. He continued to talk about the problems in the tents that would arise during the monsoon season. He showed us another tent next to a cremation site, this is where he started to take questions and he was talking to us for the next 30min, he talked about the hypocrisy of the governments' policy on homeless people. He stated that the government was telling people that they were aiding the homeless, but as soon as Delhi entered the spotlight during the Commonwealth Games the amount of homeless people was "reduced", which was doe by moving them outside of the city causing them to loose any source of income which had existed for them in the city. Further statements were made by him talking about the cities disregard of the dead people on the streets of Delhi which had passed away due to lack of heat.
After this long discussion we headed back to the busses which then took us to old Delhi. As we arrived we took a walk to the slum, we found two further tents ran by the NGO Butterflies. These two tents however were for women and children. We only stayed a short while in comparison to the previous stop since were already late. We headed towards the streets of old Delhi. These were still very lively even though it was 11 o'clock at night. We entered the restaurant Kareem's. We sat down and had some drinks and some Indian food (butter chicken, naan and some kebab) which some people considered very spicy. After the Dinner we headed back trough the hectic streets of old Delhi once more to find our way back to the Busses in which we drove back to school.
For many people this was a very emotional and eye-opening experience, which could effect there way of handling the issue of homeless in their future lives. Many other people considered the trip very disrespectful since they did not approve of the idea of entering the private space of people which did not posses close to any physical belongings. They said that they did not want other people looking at their own private lives as if it were a tourist attraction, so they were not quite content with doing so to others. This argument with was strengthened, since these people living in the homeless shelters are in a situation which could be considered as embarrassing thus they would not be comfortable with other people seeing this.
This experience was very different for some people than others. This could both be viewed as a worthwhile trip or the opposite of it.
Dominik and Melanie, 25.1.2011
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Delhi Night trip
This trip was a project with Sweccha and the IGSS (Indo Global Social Service Society), that dealt with the homeless people of New Delhi and how the NGO's were taking action in order to aid the poor and homeless, be it through medical care, food, and shelter. Misereor support this project.
Leaving school in two busses, we reached old Delhi as it was getting dark. Next to the Yamuna River, we were guided through 3 various shelters along the river bank. The situation of some of the homeless during the commonwealth games was quite gruesome, compared to our living standards. What surprised me quite a bit is the treatment they receive from the government and how they are just discarded. After a lengthened discussion, we continued to old Delhi, where we concerned ourselves with the children shelter run by the NGO Butterflies and how they lived there.
We arrived in the heart of old Delhi and walked for a bit towards the camp. There were two tents that were located on an empty land space. The tents seemed to provide the basic needs for the children and all of them seemed to be very friendly and open towards us. After the visit, we said our farewells and continued.
My impression was that even due to the poor conditions in their environment, they seemed to be happy and taken care of. However, I would still be concerned about the security of the tents since, it didn't seem to be guarded and with Delhi's crime rates that would be a security hazard.
Overall I enjoyed the trip and had learnt new things about the social situation in those poverty stricken areas. It really hit me, finding out about the government scandals that are even supported by the High Court and that there is no pressure from citizens or the press.
Robin, 25.1.2011
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