After their parents died, siblings Ritu and Vikas went to live with their grandmother and uncle in the Delhi slums
WORDS: SARAH FINLEY
HELPING HAND APPEAL 2023
As we arrive at the rubbish dump, which they call home, it’s the smell that gets me first, the kind of stench which turns your stomach and makes your eyes water.
If Ritu (11) and her brother Vikas (9) can smell the same thing, they don’t show us their discomfort, as they happily run over the rubbish below their feet.
After their parents both passed away, the brother and sister moved in with their grandmother and uncle in Sangam Vihar, one of Delhi’s biggest urban slums.
As we drive through the streets labourers are waiting by the side of the road for work – in the hope they’ll get lucky and be able to feed their families this week.
Most people who live here though work as rag pickers, collecting the rubbish they live amongst, and selling it off for around 50 rupees (about 50p) a day.
Vikas is no different. Despite his age, he helps his uncle by collecting plastic, and even admits to not wanting to feel like a burden on his extended family, saying, “I earn my own money, to eat.”
It’s sad to hear that this slight boy, who should be playing with his sister instead of picking up unsanitary rubbish, sees this as a necessity.
As I speak with Ritu, just outside their home – a small shack, with just one room for six people, and surrounded by mounds of rubbish – she recalls her upbringing.
“Mother never scolded us,” she says, while Vikas recalls her beautiful saris and how tall she was. They both look sad as they speak about their mother, who died three years ago from TB and cancer. However they admit that they don’t remember their father, who died when they were young children.
I’d met them initially at the Gianelli Sadan community school around a 20-minute walk away from their home.
Many children from the slums end up in community schools, as it’s tough to get them enrolled in government schools. The siblings share a single dimly lit classroom with around 100 children of all ages.
Ritu and Vikas are happy to be at school, where they’ve been learning English, maths and Hindi for the last three years.
Education wasn’t on their radar until a staff worker from BREAD – Mary’s Meals trusted partner in the country – noticed them and brought them into the
