Success Happy

To me this place dispels the myth that poverty is due to laziness

Summary: To me this place dispels the myth that poverty is due to laziness that the poor somehow deserve their lot in life because they are lazy or stupid or otherwise lacking in some important character trait that the successful possess One of the official indicators of a slum along with lack of water and sanitation overcrowding and non durable housing structures is the percentage of residents living in illegal housing Children living in such poor conditions are more likely to die from pneumonia diarrhea malaria measles or HIV AIDS than those living in a non slum area and are more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses and other infectious diseases The illegal status often deprives residents of public services in Dharavi for example there is only one toilet for every 1 500 residents Not only is most of the housing here illegal but so is 90 of the commercial activity Half of Mumbai s sixteen million citizens live in such an urban slum Dharavi is a resounding rebuttal to that belief Industry and entrepreneurship abound Very few people are idle Entire cottage industries thrive here weaving food clothing manufacturing pottery Small business owners work hard at production and all around me is the buzz of things happening Born into the right mix of circumstances as the vast majority of self made successes are the industry makers here would no doubt be thriving business people with comfortable bank accounts Instead by pure chance they were born into a world with far less access to education and far fewer opportunities to climb onto the next rung of economic prosperity no matter how smart or hard working they are To me this place dispels the myth that poverty is due to laziness that the poor somehow deserve their lot in life because they are lazy or stupid or otherwise lacking in some important character trait that the successful possess One of the official indicators of a slum along with lack of water and sanitation overcrowding and non durable housing structures is the percentage of residents living in illegal housing Children living in such poor conditions are more likely to die from pneumonia diarrhea malaria measles or HIV AIDS than those living in a non slum area and are more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses and other infectious diseases The illegal status often deprives residents of public services in Dharavi for example there is only one toilet for every 1 500 residents Not only is most of the housing here illegal but so is 90 of the commercial activity Half of Mumbai s sixteen million citizens live in such an urban slum Dharavi is a resounding rebuttal to that belief Industry and entrepreneurship abound Very few people are idle Entire cottage industries thrive here weaving food clothing manufacturing pottery Small business owners work hard at production and all around me is the buzz of things happening Born into the right mix of circumstances as the vast majority of self made successes are the industry makers here would no doubt be thriving business people with comfortable bank accounts Instead by pure chance they were born into a world with far less access to education and far fewer opportunities to climb onto the next rung of economic prosperity no matter how smart or hard working they are

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