I'm currently working on an essay that requires me to investigate the proportion of childhood mortality relative to adverse exposures in my country. I decided to pick India for this essay. From the information I managed to find, the lives of children who reside in urban slums has struck a chord with me. Evoking pity, sadness and irritation (with people who have lots and lots of money).
So here we go, a short summary on the info I've obtained on the country which has largest number of child labourers under the age of 14, in the world.
What are slums actually? Slums are characteristically many buildings/groups of living quarters/huts characterised by overcrowding,unhygienic living conditions,poor sanitation, improper drainage systems and the improper removal of excreta due to a lack of sanitation facilities. Slums are usually located close to factories and highways and lack proper ventilation due to inadequacies in infrastructure compared to other living areas.
picture of slums
Children living in these slums live in compromised conditions which promote infections, diseases and increased rates of mortality on a day-to-day basis because they are constantly exposed to a polluted environment. Their low levels of education and lack of knowledge on proper hygiene practices only contribute to the problem.
Facts
- Children living in slums face the poorest sanitary conditions in India.
- Out of the many environmental issues faced by the people of India ( such as vector borne diseases like Dengue,Malaria,Japanese Encephalitis,Chickungunya) ( Hazardous chemicals in water like excessive fluoride,arsenic) ( Air pollution both indoor and outdoor) most of them are faced by those who live in slums.
- More than 122 million homes have no toilets
- About 5 million or more children in India live in slums
- The most number of slums are located in Mumbai
Initially I was really annoyed and thought to myself, if all these bullshit politicians, singers and bollywood actors and actresses actually sat together and donated just 1 month of their salaries (or hey maybe even a day's earnings) to the little ones and the parents of these little ones ( who obviously need it more than than those big shots) the situation wouldn't be as bad as it currently is. However, I guess money alone isn't the key to successfully eradicating the problem. Yeah, it definitely isn't! Maybe the biggest problem which has yet to fully be addressed is the lack of education amongst those who live in such environments.
Through some form of education, awareness will grow, and through awareness knowledge will increase, knowledge, will then aid them in understanding the whys and hows, and maybe then, a greater sense of urgency will lead to necessary changes being made. Maybe when education (coupled with money utilised wisely) a major shift in the current position slum dwellers are stuck in will finally be made.
Through some form of education, awareness will grow, and through awareness knowledge will increase, knowledge, will then aid them in understanding the whys and hows, and maybe then, a greater sense of urgency will lead to necessary changes being made. Maybe when education (coupled with money utilised wisely) a major shift in the current position slum dwellers are stuck in will finally be made.
Maybe maybe maybe? maybe.......... maybe we can be the ones to help teach the kids... maybe maybe maybe
beautiful girl
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