Approach's first report - part II

Yesterday, we told you about the initial research submitted by Approach, a social development consultancy that is helping us identify slums for us to support in the Andheri (East) area. Today, we're sharing some information from their first survey, which helps us and you better understand the situation.

Some facts:

• The area surveyed is the K/E ward, which has a human development index of 0.67. 
• 59% of the men and 41% of the women in the slum are literate.
• There are 141 schools in the area, with about 1400 teachers and 58,000 students. 
• The total school dropout rate is about 7%, but about 13% of Class 2 students drop out.
• There are 1193 toilet blocks (with 7850 seats) for a population of about 4,63,000. there are no private toilets.
• The most common diseases here are: common cold, fever, skin disease, worm infestation and anaemia.
• In the K/E ward, a tap is shared by six people.

The researchers also made their own observations based on the field visits they made to the various slums.

• The team found that though children below the age of six were enrolled in balwadis (daycare centres), most of them were outside playing outside in the time they were supposed to be at the centre.
• Very few of the youth were studying in college. Even if they were enrolled, they are either irregular in their attendance or dropped out.
• Many children have to start working early due to their economic conditions.
• Most of the people are daily-wage earners. Survival is top of their mind, leaving them disinterested in other social development activities.
• Most localities had a high density, and there was no separate place for cooking, minimal ventilation and no place for recreation or play for children.
• Most of the slum localities have formed a society to tackle community problems and formally registered it with local authority.
• According to the people, water, health and sanitation are issues of top priority.
• There are self-help groups in some of localities but they are not functioning properly due to lack of guidance and motivation.

The Approach team has now shortlisted six slums, based on community willingness, vulnerable conditions, type of social group and households and proximity to our office. From these we will soon select four slums, where we will conduct the second and intensive round of research to understand the communities' needs and figure out how we can help.

As you can see, we are being very meticulous about our work. Keep reading our blog for more information.