Stand-up for Slums

The Challenge

Remember the migrant crisis that highlighted the living situation of migrant essential workers in India at the beginning of the lockdown in March?

Now that the pandemic is the new normal, many labourers are back to their slum settlements in cities in search of livelihood, living alongside those who never left because they had nowhere else to go.

Imagine living with a family of 5 people in a room only as big as your parking spot; with crowded lanes, lack of basic services such as water, electricity, toilets and proper drainage. The space you live in has a high impact on your physical and mental well-being. But for our low-income communities, living in poor conditions is another struggle they have to deal with along with food and livelihood in this crisis.

Basic activities like cooking, washing happen in the same open space which is the road, play area for children and open space of the house. There is a lack of proper roofing, a basic requirement for protection against sun and rain. The middle-aged and youth find themselves without any space to engage productively and deal with the mental stress caused due to the pandemic. With a reduced scope of physical activities during the pandemic, there is also an increase in incidents of mental & physical violence. Lack of planning in physical space has impacted living conditions in slums.

This is the situation of millions of people. 1 in 6 people in Indian cities live in slums.

Solution

Food, clothing and shelter are our most basic human needs. We need your support in coming together to improve living conditions and its effects on people living in poverty by transforming the community spaces they live in. 

In slum communities, where the house is just one room, the common areas are a part of active daily life. These spaces are used for cooking, washing, as living rooms which are spaces of social interaction, and play areas for children. The shared common spaces are an extension of people’s homes. By identifying underutilized common spaces and reclaiming waste common space in communities, we work directly with the communities to enable:

The pandemic has highlighted the need for better spaces to live in, and its impact on mental & physical health like never before. The workers that help you in essential services need you to stand-up for them. Join us and ‘Stand-up For Slums’.

Impact

Where we live affects our sense of belonging, stability and mental health. 

The entire amount raised in this campaign will support 2 slum communities in Nagavarapalya and Dooravani Nagar, Bangalore, by total transformation of shared common spaces in these communities leading to direct improvement in human-development outcomes. This will impact more than 1000 people. 

A day of your income could improve years of their lives. 

Every social media share can bring Rs. 5000.

About Us

Built Empathy is a non-profit organisation improving livability in Indian cities by making public & community spaces safer and more inclusive for underserved communities.

Our past work includes initiatives in collaboration with the Government of Odisha and leading a successful citizen movement to bring in the ‘Mukhya Mantri Street Light Yojana’ launched by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sh. Arvind Kejriwal for making public spaces in Delhi safer by installing street lights.