Abigail #716 Dharavi Forked between two train tracks in the middle of Mumbai lies Dharavi, Indias largest

slum, where people are working very hard to survive. Three stories of amazing people whose lives are made extraordinary by the slum they call home provide examples of how Dharavi works. Even with all of its problems and challenges, these people work very hard to try and overcome these difficult situations and give themselves and their children better lives. Despite being a slum to the outsider, Dharavi works because of the many amazing people who support a strong community of dreamers and hard workers. One example of how Dharavi works is Laximi. She is a mother who works very hard in Dharavis largest industry: ragpicking. A ragpicker is a person who sorts trash to recycle. Laximi owns her own ragpicking business and is making a hundred dollars a month for her daughter, Sheetal, to go to school. She dreams that eventually they will both have a better future. But, ragpicking is very dangerous. Sometimes there are needles, dangerous fumes, chemicals, or other medical tools in the trash. These items could poke her and give her a very bad disease. She also supports her community through her work with the Acorn Foundation which provides money for education for children of ragpickers and other low paying jobs. Laximi is a very good example of a person working very hard in Dharavi to overcome a difficult situation to provide a better life for her daughter. Another story of how people are working hard in Dharavi is Jigha a 12 year old boy. Jigha lives with his father who is a tailor. He lives in a one room house that doubles as the shop. This is not strange to live where you work. In fact there are 15,000 of these one room factories in

Dharavi. Jigha, like Sheetal, has a hardworking parent and can go to school. But Jigha has bigger dreams than most kids in Dharavi. He wants to be a scientist. So he is also going to extra classes to learn English and work towards this dream. Hopefully, he will reach his dream and become one of the greats! Jigha is another great example of a dreamer and hard worker because he believes that even poor people can fulfill there dreams. One of the most surprising stories is about a rickshaw driver named Shailesh. Shailesh wants to be a star in one of the Bollywood movies. Bollywood is Mumbais Hollywood, and few people ever make it in, and right now Shailesh only makes sixty dollars a month. He works very hard to make his dream come true by going to an acting class. His acting teacher saw potential because of Shaileshs hard work, and he got him a music video try out. It was a success! Now, he is doing religious music videos. Hopefully, he will be recognized by a Bollywood producer and make it big. But, if he had to he would give it all up for his family, which is his first priority. Shaileshs dedication to becoming an actor is a final example of a hard worker and dreamer in Dharavi. These three amazing people demonstrate how Dharavi works by supporting a strong community of dreamers and hard workers. There is a mom who is doing everything for her daughter, a boy who will let nothing stop him in becoming a scientist, and a man whose big dream is to become a movie star. Sadly, the government of Mumbai believes that Dharavi is an eyesore and not good for a growing city. So, they think it should be removed. They do not see that in Dharavi there are over a million people who have lives and who are hard-working dreamers.