Shanty's Forgotten People

Aim

Together, with just a donation, we can make a difference and change these people's lives forever, the people progress left behind.

Sunita [35 years], lives with her family of seven people, in one room, it's hard to see. Born into a shanty town, she begged on the streets in Delhi with her sisters, where I met them in 1997; sent out to beg  by her parents, from a very young age.

Sunita's children's ages range from 5 - 18 years old, her son is the eldest and works long hours in a furniture depot, her husband is a cycle rickshaw driver, that he rents from an owner. Together they bring home around £140 pm, needing around £100+ for living costs, including rent.

They cannot afford to send all their children to school, perpetrating yet still more poverty for their own futures and possibly their own children's. Experience has shown me that sending these children to school has a long reaching affect, that is apparent in at least one of her sisters who married well for her situation. Poonam, who I sent to school in 1997, and her husband are a love marriage, they send all their 6 children to school in Katni, where they live now; their eldest daughter has just graduated with her BA degree in Political Science.

Unfortunately, Sunita and her children have been left behind, without support from any outside source, including the government. She has 4 daughters and 1 son, most likely only the son can work without education, he will marry and move on needing his wages for his own family, the daughters will rely on what marriages they are able to have.

I could not return to India for many years and we lost touch, although I knew they had been evicted from the shanty town and it had been torn down in 2002. Now that I have found them again, I want to give Sunita a helping hand for her and her children's future. The first most fundamental thing is to secure them a home of their own with 2 rooms [not bedrooms], this will mean they won't be continually moved on by the government as unwanted residents; real estate being more important. It also means they won't have the stress of paying rent, the pressure of which could lead them eventually to homelessness once more.

The government now want to tear down the one room flats, that they have resided and established their lives in for the past 20 years, to build newer and 'better' flats for profit, fragmenting their community and taking them further away from their jobs. 

Once secure,we can then move onto education for all and possibly food growing, with your kind help.

Because real estate prices in this [low income] area of Delhi are low, the cheapest being £12,000 for 2 rooms, this is the sum necessary to secure them a better life and the stability to send all the girls to school. This will have a huge impact on their life quality, not just now but for generations to come. Together, by donation, we can make a difference, to the people progress has never worked for.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Please see our Facebook page; 

https://www.facebook.com/Shantysforgottenpeople

All proceeds go directly to the room purchase.

This project successfully funded on 30th October 2025