Lessons from a slum clean-up

Six months ago, Govardhanpurwa, a slum in Kanpur city, was a festering dump. Flies and other vectors abounded. Waterborne diseases were rampant. The story of how all this changed affirms something I’ve suspected for a while: Developing community ties has far-reaching and often unexpected social gains. This is especially true in urban slums, which aren’t as well-knit as villages that are still bound in a web of traditional relationships. Slum dwellers will often tell you that they’re too busy fighting for everyday survival to develop neighbourly ties. Govardhanpurwa was no different until WaterAid India and their field partner Shramik Bharti