Kindergarten education and poverty : children’s lives and social protection of slum children in Colombo

Kindergarten Education and Poverty

Children’s lives and social protection of slum children in Colombo

Master Thesis

MSc. Cultural and Social Anthropology 2014

Graduate School of Social Sciences

Author: Ji Young Ahn

joyahn0612@hotmail.com

Supervisor: Dr. Gerben Nooteboom

Co-readers: Yolanda van Ede & Laurens Bakker

Submission date: February 2014

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research is to examine the role of education from poverty. To be specific, I investigate the impact of poverty on Sri Lankan children and explore the role of a kindergarten among the poor in the Bloemendhal slum in Colombo. This study focuses on how the children and their families adjust themselves to their poor surroundings and how they build their relationship with the kindergarten.

In the Bloemendhal slum, poverty affects children’s lives negatively in many aspects. The painful agony of poverty completely reflects on the children’s daily life. Also, the children experience many negative situations within the culture of their family. Parents’ attitudes about lifeunintentionally deprive the educational rights of their children.

Nevertheless, Kusum Sevana kindergarten makes an effort to provide support to the slum dwellers and children in order to raise the quality of their life and prepare them for a possible future beyond poverty. The kindergarten focuses on children’s education and attitudes because children have a potential and the autonomy to make a better future. It is necessary to emphasize that in order to let childhood education be an important part in children’s growth within inferior surroundings; the parents need to play an active role in their lives, as this is a prerequisite for children’s growth and development.

INDEX

PREFACE ... 1

CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH PROBLEM AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 2

Introduction ... 2

Research questions ... 5

Theoretical framework ... 5

Poverty and slums ... 5

Sustainable livelihoods ... 8

Education among the poor ... 10

CHAPTER 2: FIELDWORK BACKGROUND, SETTING AND METHODOLOGY ... 13

Demographical and social background of Sri Lanka ... 13

Field setting ... 14

“Kusum Sevana” in Bloemendhal slum ... 14

Access to the field ... 16

Language ... 16

Methodology ... 17

Methodological operationalization ... 17

Research Methods ... 20

CHAPTER 3:CHILDREN’S LIVES IN POVERTY ... 22

Children’s daily lives ... 23

A slum named “Kimbulahela (crocodile canal)” ... 23

The daily life of Mannesh and his siblings ... 25

A pot of rice and curries ... 27

“I am not scared of rats, but I am scared of raining” ... 29

Community and neighborhood ... 30

Privacy and gossiping ... 30

Our world, our market ... 33

Endangered teenagers ... 35

Problems of families ... 36

Common violence at their homes ... 36

Exposure to sexuality at a young age ... 38

“My mom has gone abroad to bring me a doll.” ... 38

Absence of the role of a father ... 40

Analysis ... 42

CHAPTER 4: CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES WITH “KUSUM SEVANA” ... 46

The role of the kindergarten for the children ... 46

Education ... 46

Sanitation ... 49

Nutrition ... 51

Meaning of Kusum Sevana for the community ... 54

The only reliable place for childcare ... 54

Central place of the slum: fair distributor and supporter ... 55

Beyond the limits ... 57

Lack of professionalism and environmental limitations ... 57

Parents’ attitudes and perceptions ... 59

Analysis ... 61

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ... 64

REFERENCES ... 69

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PREFACE

6 years ago, my family moved from South Korea to Sri Lanka due to my husband’s job. It can easily be said that I was just moving to another country but it was a huge difference for me. This was because I had to completely change my lifestyle and it was hard to leave everything in Seoul including family, friends, and a convenient life. I started a new life in an unfamiliar country and soon, I realized how difficult it is to adapt to a new culture and environment. But it became my reality.

From the third year of my life in Sri Lanka, I participated in some volunteer work. The reason why I started volunteering was simple. It was because there are so many poor people and those people need help. In the beginning, my volunteer work was a weekly routine, just the simple thought of caring and helping people who don’t have as much as we do, but it turned out to weigh on my mind as time went by. This ‘Kusum Sevana kindergarten’ is one of the places I visited. The kindergarten is located in the Bloemendhal slum in Colombo. There, I could see so many families and children in despair. Especially the children tend to be innocent victims of poverty.

Throughout the years, the process in which I experienced and ruminated about cultural and social issues has become a crucial turning point in my life. It has created a strong motivation, which was connected with my concern for the children at risk. Frankly speaking, this field for my research was chosen from my personal experience and compassion. My previous academic background was early childhood education and I worked in a preschool as a teacher in Seoul. Through my teaching experience, I started taking interest in the children in Sri Lanka. I longed to write about the slum children’s lives and reveal their suffering. I wanted to find the meaning of the relationship between the children’s lives in poor surroundings and their school.

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CHAPTER 1. RESEARCH PROBLEM AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Introduction

It is necessary to explain the general situation in Sri Lanka to understand better about the surrounding and the kindergarten in which the children live that are central in this thesis. Sri Lanka, known as Ceylon, is an island located in South Asia. This country has gone through challenging times over the last half century. Sri Lanka was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch and British for 450 years until the country achieved independence in 1948.

After independence, Sri Lanka was left with a diverse range of cultures, languages and religions. An important group is the Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, and migrated forcibly from south India to work in the tea plantations during the British colonial era. The Sinhalese make up the majority of the population, and conflicts occur between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.

Although the country gained independence from the British in 1948, ethnic tensions between Tamil and Sinhalese still exist. The civil war brought about many victims until the war finished with the victory of the Sinhalese in 2008. Furthermore, between 60,000 and 100,000 people were killed during the 26 years of the conflict and at least 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the final phases of the Sri Lankan civil war.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka was affected by the devastating event of the tsunami on December 24th, 2004, which left at least 35,000 people dead. One and a half million people got displaced from their homes, and the death toll continued to rise because the aftermath of the Tsunami caused various infectious diseases. Due to these tragedies, the civil war and the tsunami, people’s lives have become more miserable than before.

On the basis of the official World Bank report (2011), 23.9% of the people in Sri Lanka live on less than 2 $ per day. In addition, according to the latest report from the Department Census and

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Statistics Sri Lanka (2010), the proportion in Sri Lanka that was below the national poverty line was 8.9%1.

Above all, the quality of life of children suffers the most. The mortality rate is 14.7 infants per 1000 deaths (UNDP, 2013). Although, according to the latest estimations of the World Bank, absolute poverty has reduced by 50% from 2002 to 2007, malnutrition still remains a problem among most children in Sri Lanka. Still, 29% of the children younger than five years old are reported to be underweight. The classical definition of a slum is characterized by overcrowding, poor or informal housing, inadequate access to safe water and sanitation, and insecurity of tenure. (Davis, 2006a: 22-23). The situation of the Bloemendhal slum in Colombo is no different. The people live in slate houses, which do not have any bathroom or toilet, which worsens the sanitary conditions. Also, living condition in the slums tends to expose children to danger when they wander the streets alone.

At this point, it is important to point out the role of education. I wanted to find how kindergarten in a slum functions and how it influences disadvantaged children’s lives. As severe poverty can inhibit educational rights (Dhillon, 2011: 258), disadvantaged children from poor households are more likely to drop out of school. It is important to keep in mind that everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages as shown by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

“Education lies at the heart of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is not a corollary—a secondary derivative—of the normative demands made by the declaration on individuals, institutions, and the international state system. Nor is it a mere application of the philosophical examination of the nature of human rights and freedoms” (Dhillon, 2011: 249).

Furthermore, education, which is one of the Millennium Development Goals of the UNDP, is seen as a means to eradicate extreme poverty or the negative impacts of extreme poverty. UNDP stressed that education is pivotal for development in a rapidly changing world. As a result, many non‐government organizations (NGOs) try to reach school‐aged children who excluded from access to the conventional state education system. Thus, it will be meaningful to study how

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Official Poverty line at a national level for December 2013 is 3781 rupees (about 21 Euros). However, the latest information related to the population collected through Censuses and specialized surveys were processed by the Census division in 2010. Official poverty line for the survey period 2009/10 is 3028 rupees (about 17 Euros) real total expenditure per person per month.

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international organizations practically take their roles to support vulnerable children in an educational context. Through this study, it will be possible to review the reality about the relationship between poverty and education, and suggest more ideas to NGOs for the future approach that try to improve the educational circumstances of unprivileged children.

Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine the role of education from poverty. To be specific, I investigate the impact of poverty on Sri Lankan children and explore the role of a kindergarten among the poor.

I am particularly compelled to describe the children and their family’s lives in the slum in the suburbs of Colombo, in order to reveal the risks and threats of children’s lives in poverty. This study focuses on how the children and their families adjust themselves to their poor surroundings and how they build their relationship with the kindergarten. Through this study, I am able to find out what role the kindergarten plays in children’s lives and how the kindergarten functions in daily slum life.

5 Research questions

The research problem is described in the following questions.

Main Question:

What is the role and meaning of the kindergarten for children’s lives and how does it influence the social protection of slum children in Colombo?

Sub-questions:

a. What are the characteristics of urban poverty in the Bloemendhal slum? b. How do the characteristics of poverty in the slum affect children? c. How is the kindergarten taking care of children in the slum?

d. What are the limitations of the kindergarten for children’s social protection and their development?

Theoretical framework

In order to reach the purpose of this research, three theoretical bodies of literature are relevant. Firstly, I focus on the notion of poverty and the definition of slum, concerning the situation in Sri Lanka. Secondly, I discuss the framework of livelihoods in terms of the reproduction of poverty, as described by Bebbington (1999) and others. In addition, the contrast between ‘culture of poverty’ and the ‘livelihood approach’ is reviewed as a different angle of poverty. Lastly, I discuss child development and education among the poor. This review helps in understanding and interpreting the slum life in diverse view points. Through these theoretical backgrounds, I am able to prepare a theoretical foundation to understand and observe the real world of poverty in Sri Lanka.

Poverty and slums

Poverty, which cannot be defined easily, is often an intricate part of society. If fundamental needs, such as food, clothing and shelters aren’t satisfied, this can be defined as absolute poverty. In this

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understanding, it is a universal concept which is applied all over the world. In general, the absolute poverty line is defined as living on 1.25$(or 2$) or less per day (World Bank, 2011). Conversely, there is also the concept of relative poverty, which is caused by inequality. Each national poverty line can be different, as it depends on the economic situation in each country. If the overall incomes of people rise in their society, poverty may decrease according to the absolute perspective, but it may increase according to the relative perspective.

Beteille (2003: 4462) noted that the concept of absolute poverty is too narrow and restrictive, and the concept of relative poverty is too vague and subjective because relative deprivation may be experienced at any level of the social hierarchy. So the concept of poverty may change over different societies and times. The more economic and social development is prompted, the more the notion of relative poverty becomes increasingly complex and difficult to decode.

What is clear is that poverty is an intensely practical problem for those who suffer from it, and it extends worldwide. Poverty is found in all contemporary societies, although it is more visible and manifested in some societies than in others (Beteille, 2003: 4455). UN-Habitat estimates that globally approximately one-third of the world’s urban inhabitants lived in urban slum conditions in 2005. The prevalence of slum households varies dramatically across cities of the developing world (UN-Habitat, 2008: 92).

A slum is defined by substandard housing with insecurity of tenure and the absence of one or more urban services and infrastructure-sewage treatment, plumbing, clean water, electricity, paved roads and so on (Davis, 2006b: 7). The most visible features of the slums are poverty and overcrowding (Beteille, 2003: 4456). Moreover, the majority of the world’s urban poor no longer live in inner cities but rather in slum at the outskirt (Davis, 2006a: 18). As a result, the poor have become invisible, marginalized, or excluded from public view (Susser, 1996: 411). Moreover, in many condition, the gap between the rich and poor is growing larger. Poverty and overcrowding tends to create a spatial distribution of the population and economic inequality, as Engels already noted for 19th century England.

“Every great city has one or more slums, where the working class is crowded together. True, poverty often dwells in hidden alleys close to the palaces of the rich; but, in general, a separate territory had been assigned to it, where, removed from the sight of the happier classes, it may struggle along as it can.” (Beteille, 2003: 4456, citing Engels, 1973)

More than half of the world’s slum population resides in Asia, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-Habitat, 2008:108). Particularly in Southern Asia and

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Saharan Africa today, slums are home to significantly large proportions of the urban population, and slum growth is as high as urban growth. The same situation is occurring in urban areas in Sri Lanka.

The Colombo metropolitan area has the most serious housing problems relative to other urban areas. Slum houses are located in inner−city areas and are old residential buildings made of permanent materials, subdivided into small single rooms, inadequately maintained and largely deprived of basic sanitary facilities. These subdivisions began during the Second World War, when the middle−income resident traders of the inner−city areas vacated their homes in search of better housing and services (UMP South Asia Office and SEVANATHA, 2001). According to the World Bank (2013), 15% of the Sri Lankan population lives in urban areas and more that 70% of urban population is concentrated in Colombo. According to Homeless International (2014), 12% of the over 2.3 million people living in Colombo are estimated to live in slums and around half of the city’s 650,000 residents live in informal settlements: 33% have limited access to clean water and 39% have limited access to a decent toilet.

Usually, the slum-dwelling population lacks access to health care and other services (Davis, 2006a: 146). It is necessary to improve the impoverished situation of slums in Colombo. Today, nearly 65,000 families in Colombo need better shelter and basic services (Homeless International, 2014). These settlements often lack clear land tenure, leaving many families with little choice but to illegally occupy government land, where they live in fear of eviction. The rights of those living in Colombo’s informal settlements are often overlooked and one of the major problems they face is the lack of government budget and planning to improve housing and basic services in these areas (Homeless International, 2014).

As a result, the overall quality of life in slums is poor. It is difficult for the disadvantaged people to access social services and health care in society. Slum dwellers in many of the world’s poorest cities experience multiple deprivations that are direct expressionsof poverty: many of their houses are unfit for habitation and they often lack adequate food, education, health and basic services that the better-off take for granted (UN- Habitat, 2008: 13).

Environmental and sanitary problems especially impact the poor, particularly women and children, as Davis (2006a: 147) stated. Therefore, slum children tend to carry the heavy burden of catching infectious diseases, malnutrition, and suffer from the typical spectrum of chronic and social diseases.

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Sustainable livelihoods

In general, people think that poverty is caused by a lack of financial means. Therefore people conjecture that if financial problems are solved, poverty will be eradicated. It is doubtful whether economic solutions could simply alleviate poverty because poverty cannot be explained as merely being a ‘money’ problem. However, the ecological environments surrounding poverty are so complex and multifaceted because family, schools, communities, and societies are intertwined within a child’s life.

The ‘sustainable livelihoods approach’ attempts to give a disparate explanation that poverty should be understood not only by its economic aspects. The notion of sustainable development has many aspects that are germane to poverty reduction (Tao & Wall, 2009: 137). The goal of livelihood approach is to help eradicate poverty by providing various resources according to specific local situations. In addition, a livelihood is defined as ‘the capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living’ (Lister, 2004: 131, citing Chambers & Conway, 1992). In this way, as Scoones (2009: 172) stated, livelihood perspectives start with the concept of different people living in different places, so a combination of the resources used and the activities undertaken, is needed to match the local situation and context.

As Bebbington (1999: 2022) argued, it is important to have a wide concept of the resources, not only financial aid. He considers livelihoods in terms of access to several types of ‘capital’ assets, which are human, natural, financial, physical, and social capital. For example, human capital can be skills, knowledge, information, ability to work and health; financial capital can be savings, credit, remittances and pensions; physical capital can be transport, shelter and energy; natural capital can be land, water and environment; social capital can be network, groups, and access to services in the context of local communities. This is so we are able to accentuate the effects of multidimensional capitals to build sustainability.

In relation to this conceptualization of the framework, these capitals are not simply ‘resources’ that people use in building livelihoods; they are assets that give them the capability to be and act (Bebbington, 1999: 2022). It means that the approach is based on the power of ‘agents’ to act, reproduce and challenge. The idea of ‘agency’ is used to characterize individuals as autonomous, purposive and creative actors, capable of a degree of choice (Lister, 2004: 125). In addition, it emphasizes the notion of access. ‘Access’ is considered to be the most crucial resource for the viability and sustainability of livelihoods. Especially particular attention is paid to the importance of social capital as an asset through which the poor are able to widen their access to resources and

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other factors (Bebbington, 1999: 2023). Accordingly, the perspective of livelihoods is more people-centered, holistic and offers a dynamic approach because its focus is on understanding the realities of struggle of the poor and its complex relationships. Also, these capitals are focused on revealing potential power and strengths rather than just needs and cultural limitations.

On the other hand, Lewis (1966, 1998) described the culture of poverty as ‘both an adaptation and a reaction of the poor to their marginal position in a class stratified, highly individuated, capitalistic society’. It represents efforts to cope with feelings of despair and hopelessness that invariably accompany poor people’s realization of the overwhelming odds against their achieving success in terms of the values and goals of mainstream society (Wilson & Aponte, 1985: 248). The result is a series of special adaptations to existing circumstances, including a sense of resignation and passivity because they have to endure poverty, present-time orientation due to day-to-day survival, a feeling of fatalism and powerlessness because of separation from the political process, low aspirations because of the lack of opportunities, feelings of inferiority because of the larger society’s contempt and aversion for the poor, and finally the creation of female-headed families because of the inability of poor men to be adequate breadwinners (Lewis, 1966, 1998).

Lichter (1999: 139-141) mentioned the fact that poor parents get stressed psychologically due to economic pressure which leads to the inability to give emotional support to their children. Additionally, poor parents provide less stimulating home environments and have styles of disciplining their children that may be less conducive to good child outcomes (Bianchi, 1999: 326-327; McLoyd, 1990). As a result, the presence of children living in unacceptable poverty proves that simply making up for an economic deficiency would not solve their problematic situations.

In this understanding, the culture of the poor causes them to remain in poverty. Unless their psychological and cultural characteristics change, the poor will not be able to pull themselves out of their poverty even with the necessary resources. Consequently, the children of poor families absorb the culture and attitudes of their parents.

From a theoretical standpoint, these two theories about poverty contrast. As Wilson and Aponte (1985: 249-250) mentioned, the basic arguments between the two perspectives are different. The perspective of ‘culture of poverty’ insists that the cultural characters and psychological deficiencies of the poor have to be changed to overcome their poverty. Otherwise, it would not be rehabilitated even though jobs and other resources are provided. Whereas, as Tao and Wall (2009: 138-139) explained about the sustainable livelihoods approach, that the perspective supporting the ‘livelihoods approach’ persists that poverty can be overcome through providing various dimensional resources such as knowledge, education, network, shelter, environment and so forth which will enable people to change their life. Seemingly, the perspective of livelihoods theory

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reflects a more positive and optimistic vision for change and future sustainability.

Obviously, poverty is not standardized. It is entwined with situations and complex structures in societies so it should be considered in diverse contexts. For this reason, I want to carefully emphasize that poverty needs to be understood with the concern, as Scoones (2009: 174) pointed out, for dynamic ecologies, history and longitudinal change, gender and social differentiation and cultural background. Through comparing these two perspectives about poverty, it will be possible to analyze the empirical context of the slums in various aspects, and analyze its relation to children’s lives and educational development in a multidimensional way.

Education among the poor

Over the past decades, increased interest in children has led to an awareness of the multiple harms experienced by children and the unacceptable poor condition of childhood itself (Korbin, 2003: 431). Poverty possibly brings about innutrition, physical diseases, psychological anxiety, social atrophy, and less educational opportunities for children. Also, poor children tend to be isolated and separated in their society. Additionally, Bianchi (1999: 326) noted that poor children’s cognitive ability and school achievement are lower than among non-poor children. Poverty in early childhood is most detrimental to ‘good’ young adult outcome. Deep, long-term poverty is extremely problematic for children and the effects are very strong (Bianchi, 1999: 328). So the facts that need to be stressed are that poverty starts in early childhood, causes severe negative experiences, and is long lasting, which tends to influence the children more intensely. In the slums that are created by the rapidly changing world, children in poverty are apt to become “innocent victims” in terms of holistic development, as Lichter (1999: 121) mentioned. This is because children are dependent on others to meet their physical and emotional needs, but children’s poverty is decided unintentionally depending on their family’s economic circumstances. Besides, poverty in childhood gives enormous negative impacts on their total growth and development in their future. The effects of the high rate of economic deprivation among today’s children may be fully realized by tomorrow’s adults (Lichter, 1999: 122).

Poverty in childhood has negative effects on children’s lives and development. To protect vulnerable children, a global and conceptual framework was constructed. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 has had a huge influence in defining the conceptual frame works and humanitarian concerns in regard to children in adversity (Panter-Brick, 2002: 154). The UNCRC represented concerted international efforts to apply basic human rights to

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children who, as it has become increasingly apparent, had not necessarily been the beneficiaries of such considerations (Korbin, 2003: 432-433). The UNCRC created three guiding principles which are ‘Provision, Protection, and Participation’. Firstly, ‘Provision’ implies that children need to be provided the necessary resources for their survival and well being. Secondly, ‘Protection’ means that children need protection from risk and danger. Lastly, ‘Participation’ stands for the children’s right to make decisions regarding their lives and welfare insofar as their age and maturity allow.

Children have been considered “vulnerable, incompetent and relatively powerless in society” (Panter-Brick, 2002: 156). However, the convention was able to lead to a remarkable change of how childhood is perceived. Its focus was to change awareness about the perspective of children. The emphasis moved from highlighting the needs of vulnerable children to defending their rights as citizens (Panter-Brick, 2002: 155). Through this significant shift of emphasis, children were recognized as “agents of change on their own lives” (Myers, 1988). Children have social agency and competency and they are capable of making informed decisions about their lives and of expressing views and aspirations that may differ from the views held by adults (Panter-Brick, 2002: 156; Johnson et al., 1998). In order to respect the humanity of children, the concerted efforts of their family, community, school, and government are a prerequisite.

Needless to say, all children need healthy circumstances, which gives them educational stimulus, physical nutrition, stable protection and emotional support. Unfortunately the poor tend to live in less safe neighborhoods and communities which do not support children. The community and the neighborhood‘s effects may add to aspects of families that create poor child outcomes (Wilson & Aponte, 1985).

Therefore, education is considered an important solution to alleviate poverty and it could be a capital of any sustainable approach. Education is important for the people in poverty: both in strengthening a sense of agency and in opening up employment opportunities (Lister, 2004: 146). The potential effects of education can be constructive and instructive in societies because not only does the school teach knowledge and skills but it also enlightens people’s values and attitudes about life. UNESCO (2013) emphasized the role of education. “Education plays an important role in empowering children to become active participants in the transformation of their societies. Learning should also focus on the values, attitudes and behaviors which enable individuals to learn to live together in a world characterized by diversity and pluralism” Furthermore, UNDP also set the Millennium Development Goals for 2015, and it persuasively emphasizes the value of education. Education should be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms (Dhillon, 2011: 249). Hence, the need for education should be considered a crucial part of social responsibility, as it

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contributes to eradication of poverty. This is the reason why we need to rely on education for the children’s futures and why education should be considered an important factor in societies.

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CHAPTER 2. FIELDWORK BACKGROUND, SETTING AND METHODOLOGY

Demographical and social background of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is bordered by India to the north and Maldives to the south. Sri Lanka is located between Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Due to its geographical importance and abundance of natural resources, the country was colonized for a long time by Western powers.

After the nation gained liberation from the United Kingdom’s colonial rule, Ceylon changed its official title to ‘Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’ in 1948. Sri Lanka has a diverse range of cultures, languages, and religions. The national languages are Sinhala and Tamil, but English described as a link language, is an official language as well.

The ethnic groups are distinguished by religion and language. The Sinhalese constitute 73.8% of the population, and most of them are Buddhists and speak Sinhala. The Tamil constitute about 8.5% of the population, and they are mostly Hindu and speak Tamil. The ethnic differences caused many problems in the country, and finally civil war erupted between the Tamil and Sinhalese in 1983.

According to a district‐wise analysis of the population, Colombo is the most densely inhabited districts and 11.5 % of total population is residing in Colombo (Department of Census $& Statistics, Sri Lanka, 2012).

Table 1: Demographical brief about Sri Lanka (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013)

Sri Lanka content

Total population _{21,675,648 (population density 326/km}2₎

Ethnic group Sinhalese 73.8%, Indian Tamil 4.6%, Sri Lankan Tamil 3.9%, Sri Lankan Moors 7.2%, other 0.5%, unspecified 10%

Religions Buddhist (official) 69.1%, Hindu 7.1%, Muslim 7.6%, Christian 6.2%, unspecified 10%

Languages

Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil ( second national language) 18%, other 8% *English, spoken competently by about 10% of the population, is commonly used in government and is referred to as the link language

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Field setting

“Kusum Sevana” in Bloemendhal slum

This region’s name was created during the Dutch Colonial times; therefore, a Dutch name called Bloemendaal orthographically changed due to the Sri Lankan pronunciation and became “Bloemendhal”. Later on, in the 1970’s, the Bloemendaal region located in the Nederlands helped the regional development of this Bloemendhal area in Sri Lanka. In addition, it is told that the reason why Bloemendaal in the Nederlands helps the Bloemendhal in Sri Lanka is simply because they have a matching name. The Bloemendhal Development Society has organized and built the Kusum Sevana kindergarten and in 1977 and the Mayor of Bloemendaal, Mr. Weekout, officially visited this place to celebrate a ceremony. Now ‘Kusum Sevana’ is run by a Roman Catholic Church. In the Bloemendhal area, the slum was created along the ruined railway line and canal.

In general, Sri Lanka provides public education for children from 5 to 14 years old, but parents tend to send their children to pre-primary school before the age of 5 years old. As the World Bank report (2011) has shown, the percentage of the total enrollment in pre-primary education in Sri Lanka was 84% in 2010. Likewise, most children living in the Bloemendhal slum are going to the “Kusum Sevana” before they enroll in a local primary school. The number of children attending Kusum Sevana is around 100 and the principle nun is in charge of this kindergarten.

Basically, Kusum Sevana is maintained by Sister M who belongs to the Sri Lankan Catholic Foundation which runs the kindergarten but financing is a problem and it is difficult to run this kindergarten. To solve the financial problem, the kindergarten tries to collect donations from religious organizations, foreign expat groups, individuals, etc.

The majority of the families in the slum are Hindu followed by Buddhist and Muslim. According to the proportion of ethnic population, the kindergarten is composed predominantly by Tamil and Sinhalese. Although Kusum Sevana is administered by a religious organization, the kindergarten is open to all children living in the Bloemendhal slum without religious prejudice.

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Figure 2: Bloemendaal Society in Holland built the foundation stone of ‘Kusum Sevana’ with Bloemendhal in Sri Lanka

Figure 3: First row left –Mr. Weekhout (Mayer of Bloemendaal) receives the album gifted by the Bloemendhal Development Society.

Second row center- Mr. Gaston Jayawardena (Founder President of Bloemendhal Development Society) lightens the oil lamp at the opening of “Kusum Sevana”

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Access to the field

My fieldwork started when I arrived in Sri Lanka on the 20th of May. I contacted and spoke to the principle of Kusum Sevana, and got permission to carry out my research project in the kindergarten. On the 28th of May, I made my first official visit to Kusum Sevana kindergarten. Sister M had given me permission to carry out my research project, and I also officially got permission from the Good Shepherd Convent which runs the Kusum Sevana kindergarten. Sister M was willing to be a sponsor for my research project and informed me that she would give assistance if I needed any help. She understood and agreed with my purpose and aim of my research project. Additionally, I was able to meet several families who send their children to Kusum Sevana. Finally, they allowed me to visit their houses everyday to do my ethnographic fieldwork.

Language

Language is an essential part for communication with interlocutors. Although English is the official working language in Sri Lanka, it is not widely used except for in the city center. Generally, lower and poor people do not speak English. In the Bloemendhal area, the teachers and Sister M can speak English well but parents, children, and the people in the slum can’t speak it. They speak Sinhalese or Tamil depending on their ethnicity. I can understand some Sinhalese, but I can’t speak it. It was therefore necessary for me to employ an interpreter who can speak Sinhalese, Tamil and English. Fortunately, Esther, who had joined my previous volunteer work, was able to help me in translation. She is a Tamil lady born in Sri Lanka and married to an English man, so she has the ability to speak Sinhala and Tamil fluently and can translate fine amounts of detail into English. She took the role of guiding my fieldwork during the whole time in the kindergarten and the slums, and for this, we did a rough training process together about the purpose of my research throughout my fieldwork. Also, she has rich field experience and is very knowledgeable about the reality of practical slum life because she has been working as a social worker for a long time. This could be a great benefit for me.

However, it is sometimes difficult for me to have informal conversations with the dwellers. Esther tried to be with me all the time in the field, but when I get an opportunity to talk with people when she is absent at the moment by chance, I lose the opportunity or she can’t deliver the vivid situation to me.

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Methodology

Methodological operationalization

To conduct my research in the field, it was necessary to operationalize the concepts and terms which are related to my research. Through this methodological operationalization, it was possible to explore theoretical concepts and set the boundary of the field in order to set up a logical scheme for my research.

Poverty in the slum: Characteristics of poverty in the slum have various aspects. In my research, I describe the expected characteristics of poverty in the slum based on a theoretical review.

1) Absence of infrastructure and urban services: The ostensible slum condition can be explained as ‘absence of sewage treatment, plumbing, clean water, electricity, paved roads and so on’ (Davis, 2006b: 8). These visible features were discovered by observation in the field and interviews with people.

2) Insecurity of place: Generally, a slum area is less safe. ‘Absence of basic infrastructure and overcrowding’ can cause insecurity in slum areas. Also, as one of the features of poverty, ‘female-headed families’ might experience insecurity due to the dangerous factors, for example sexual violence or criminal activities. I was able to investigate the situation of insecurity by asking about people’s experiences, perception of insecurity and observation in their communities.

3) Lack of education: Less educational opportunities, insufficient educational stimulus, lack of material, absence of role models of successes and, lack of emotional support are the factors of educational deprivation in slum areas. I was able to verify the educational environment at home and the kindergarten by participant observation, interviews with kindergarten staff members and parents, and documentation.

4) Unhealthy circumstances: To see their healthy circumstances in the slum, I focused on physical diseases and children’s nutritional conditions. It was necessary for me to see what the children eat on daily basis at home and at the kindergarten. Collecting the menu schedule of the kindergarten, and participant observation at home was needed.

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Exclusion is characterized by ‘separation from the mainstream, feeling of inferiority, social atrophy, contempt and aversion of the poor, marginalization’. I looked into exclusion in the slum through conducting interviews with the Bloemendhal slum dwellers.

6) Inequality: Poverty is usually accompanied by inequality. Inequality can be characterized by absence of governmental services, lack of opportunity, unfairness, separation from political processes, lack of protection, and so on (Lichter, 1997: 121-125). People living in poverty are powerless because of exclusion from society and day to day survival. I tried to investigate their experiences about inequality by listening to the dwellers’ voices through interviews and conversations, and observing the slum people’s daily life.

7) Domestic violence: Domestic violence could happen to anybody in the world. But when it happens to lower and poor people’s societies like slums, it can be ignored easily due to absence of a safety network and formal protection system. I was able to discover it through interviews with mothers. Also, incidence of domestic violence in poor households is relatively higher than middle- and upper-income households and it tends to be associated with risk of poverty (Andrea & Haiyan, 2010: 1144).

8) Psychological problems: Generally, the poor tend to have feelings of ‘hopelessness, fatalism, low aspiration, lack of motivation, present time orientation, sense of resignation and passivity’ (Lewis, 1966, 1998). It was not difficult for me to discover the feelings and psychological problems of people because informants often shared their feelings and expressed their anxiety through interviews and conversation.

The slum: A slum is a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions. UN-Habitat (2008) defines any specific place, whether a whole city or a neighborhood, as a slum area if half or more of all households lack improved water, improved sanitation, sufficient living areas, durable housing, secure tenure, or combinations thereof. The meaning of the slum in my research is the same as this definition but the demographical and social background of Sri Lanka needs to be applied to the research.

Children: ‘children’ in my research are limited to 3, 4, and 5 years old because generally children over 5 years old enroll in primary schools in Sri Lanka. I focused on the children who are going to ‘Kusum Sevana kindergarten’ in the slum area.

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Child development: Holistic growth is accomplished by a developmentally appropriate childhood and through proper education. However, children are dependent on others to meet their physical, emotional, and social development needs. Children are more vulnerable than adults, so the environment around them can easily affect their development. Especially poverty’s damaging impact on child development and subsequent educational outcomes, job prospects, health and behavior (Lister, 2004:68). Child development is very crucial, as it is a foundation of growth during their whole life. If the foundation is not built firm enough, it is difficult to recover it. It is apparent that the children in the slum are influenced by their environment.

Kindergarten (education): Kindergarten is a type of preschool for children before they go to primary school. I focused on the kindergarten in the Bloemendhal slum in Colombo. This kindergarten is not only a place for teaching knowledge, but it also implies a deeper meaning because it has a multidirectional role in the slums. It is important to note that education is directed towards the development of the human personality or capacities to their fullest (Dhillon, 2011, 249). So, Kusum Sevana is the institution in which education takes place in the slum, and it means that the kindergarten may influence the development of children as a whole.

Social protection: To protect children from social exclusion, ‘social protection’ is needed. Social exclusion happens when someone is left out of mainstream society, deprived of opportunities for participation in economic, social and civic processes (UNDP, 2013). Especially poverty brings social exclusion which leads to becoming invisible, marginalized, or excluded from public society. Poor children tend to be isolated and separated in their society. Likewise, children are easily influenced by poverty and it leads to failure of social inclusion in childhood. I tried to look into how Kusum Sevana makes efforts in order to include the children from the slum into society.

Role and meaning: ‘Kusum Sevana’ is closely connected with children in the Bloemendhal slum. Basically, Kusum Sevana functions as an educational institution. It means that the kindergarten education is expected or required to have roles or activities for socialization and development of children. The role of education should be that it is a means to empower children to become active participants in the transformation of their societies. Therefore, learning should also focus on the values, attitudes and behaviors which enable individuals to learn to live together in the world (UNESCO, 2013).

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Sometimes people do actions unintentionally but in the meantime influence children. The connotational relevance between the kindergarten education and the slum children can be explained by looking into the role of Kusum Sevana.

Research Methods

This research was carried out through a 14 week fieldwork in the Bloemendhal slum in Colombo, Sri Lanka. To look into the slum life, participant observation was very important to gather data for answering the sub-questions. To understand the children’s daily life, participant observation was the most essential method because children were difficult to have interviews or conversations with. Therefore, I needed to observe moments of the children’s lives. For example, the moments of studying in their class, playing with friends, running in the playground, eating meals, meeting parents after school, working in the household, and staying at home needed to be observed.

More specifically, I needed to take two kinds of positions for observation, in relation to my research. Firstly, to observe the kindergarten and the children during kindergarten life, I needed to conduct passive participation. This was important because I did not want to interfere with teaching, the schedule, and activities of the kindergarten. Through this passive participation, I was able to observe their usual daily life. As I expected, I could observe the children and teachers while I assisted teachers or aided in any school events as a helper, but it was very important to keep a balance between participation and observation in the kindergarten context.

Secondly, to understand the characteristics of slum dwellers’, and especially children’s lives, active participant observation was an indispensible key method. For instance, as an observing participant, I joined in cooking with their mothers, looking after children, playing with them, etc. And I observed the parents’ roles. The father and mother’s behaviors or their characteristics were different. This participant observation was crucial to learn their cultural and social situation in their daily life. I tried to become an ‘insider’ by taking a part in their society. The experiences as an insider helped me to understand their life. Through participant observation, I was able to comprehend their daily life patterns, networks between their community and neighborhood, typical social situations and their attitude towards the routine of their life.

In addition, 12 formal interviews were conducted with several children’s mothers, their family members, teachers, and the principle of the Kusum Sevana kindergarten, nun M. Through the interpretation and analysis of the interview, I was able to discover their realities of life, and their

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perception of education and childhood. I did formal in-depth interviews with them, but also many informal interviews with other people as well.

Through the informal interviews, I could notice frank responses and interaction between people in the slum. Spontaneous and informal conversations were useful to approach the neighbors and community and very helpful to understand their life. Also, conversation with children was very important because it is difficult to carry out interviews with children because naturally they can’t concentrate on something for a long time. To have abundant conversations with children, I used several methods for communication, for example, reading picture books, drawing, playing, and so on.

Especially through the interview with some mothers who live in the slum, I was able to meticulously see their perception towards poverty, and listened to their practical difficulties in their daily life. Also, I figured out their anguish about parenting in the slum, and compared differences between fathers and mothers.

To gather documentation, some photos, practical contents of teaching and visual resources contributed to collecting data for answering my questions. However, it was challenging to get hold of historical or official administrative resources and data linked to the Kusum Sevana kindergarten. This was because no important written records were left. Therefore, I had to rely on Sister M and some teachers’ memories.

Sometimes I had to confront emotional problems. My main informants were young children. They were very innocent and open-minded towards everything. As time went by, I became close to them and they came close to me. Sometimes, it was hard to control my emotional feelings. It was a kind of sympathy. I should have controlled myself as a researcher but sometimes it was difficult for me not to get emotionally involved. For example, one of the parents wanted me to pay their electricity bill. It was 3,000 rupees which is around 20 Euros. They couldn’t pay it for three months, so the government was about to cut off their electricity. It was hard for me to ignore it. I knew if I did not help them, their children would not be able to do homework because their house didn’t have any windows and it is very dark without electric lights even during the day. If I did not help them, they would have to bear harsh humidity in 33 oC with strong sunshine. I didn’t want them to endure this. However, if I helped them, it would be a mere drop in the ocean and other might ask for help as well. It was a dilemma at that moment.

These sorts of internal conflicts in my mind continued during my fieldwork. I had to make decisions every moment, at the same time I needed to keep a balance between being a researcher and being a friend.

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CHAPTER 3. CHILDREN’S LIVES IN POVERTY

The Ministry of Local Government Housing and Construction in Sri Lanka (UMP South Asia Office and SEVANATHA, 2003) defined four types of slums. These are ‘slum, shanties, unserviced semi-urban neighborhoods, and labor lines or derelict living quarters’. Among them, the Bloemendhal area is distinguished as a ‘slum’ which is defined as ‘old deteriorating tenements or subdivided derelict houses. The slum tenements, built mostly of permanent materials, are very often singled roomed and compactly arranged, in back to back rows. The occupants have a definite legal status of occupancy’.

The people in the Bloemendhal slum experience common problems in their ordinary lives, and also each family has different and unique problems, too. Their poor life is definitely hard and tough, but it doesn’t mean it is gloomy and dark. Especially the children are flexible as they can adjust to any environment. The children in the slums often do not realize that they are poor or they do not compare themselves to other people in different situations. However, the children’s lives in poverty are relatively harsh and ruthless. Life is just ongoing and the children’s lives are not an exception. My point in this chapter is to reveal how urban poverty in Colombo affects the children’s real life.

The story about the children’s lives can be illustrated through Mannesh’s family. His family might not represent all aspects of the people in the Bloemendhal slum. Some families’ financial situations are better than Mannesh’s and others are worse. However, they share similar social characteristics with one another in a similar environment. Therefore, the tendency of slum life could be characterized and the children’s lives were able to be revealed through Mannesh’s family’s daily routine.

On the other hand, to see the relations with their neighborhood and the community network, many people from other families in the field participated in interviews. So a few more families’ stories were referred to to see the role of parents and the relationship between parents and children, including Mannesh’s family.

23 Children’s daily life

A slum named “Kimbulahela (crocodile canal)”

The Bloemendhal area is divided into two slums and Kusum Sevana kindergarten is located at the center of the area. One slum, which was created along the ruined railroads, is located on the right side of the kindergarten and is called ‘Railroad slum’. The other one is located on the opposite side and is called ‘Kimbulahela (Crocodile canal)’, as a nickname for the place because there is a narrow canal in front of the slum.

A five year old boy, Mannesh is living in a small house in the Kimbulahela. The canal is situated a few meters in front of his house. This narrow and long canal is seriously polluted by slum dwellers. A lot of scraps of vegetables, plastic waste, and black rubbish are left floating in this canal. Nobody knows what this canal’s name stands for, but it is guessed that it has originated from the canal's shape or that actual crocodiles have lived there before. Nevertheless, it has been called Kimbulahela throughout the years by all the slum dwellers. Even if they say that crocodiles lived there, the present water in the canal is too polluted, it looks as if it is most likely impossible for any living thing to exist there, and it has an extremely foul smelling odor.

Viewed from the canal, the houses look like a line strung out along the street, but there is a large sprawl of houses. The second line of shacks behind the first line and third line of houses behind the second line spread out densely in the slum. Between each line of the houses, there is a thin sewerage alley that all the domestic sewage is discharged into. This alley is so narrow that any adult can reach the next house in a stride.

Figure 4:

Mannesh’s family tree.

Mannesh has a mother, a father, and two older sisters.

His mother is working as a housemaid in Colombo, His father is a tuk tuk driver. Currently, Mannesh is going to Kusum Sevana kindergarten.

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Figure 5: Polluted Kimbulahela (crocodile canal)

Figure 6:

Children are passing through the narrow ‘sewerage alley’

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There is no road worthy of a name in this slum except the road in front of the canal, but the children habitually prefer to take the sewerage alley as a short cut. Most places are only a few steps away, going to the house of their rear neighbors to see their neighbor’s newborn baby or going to their friends’ houses is very easy.

The houses are positioned side by side in a row and they are mostly built with wooden boards or gray bricks, and roof slating. Usually walls are not painted so it doesn’t look decent. Also there are no windows to let sunlight and fresh air in, so the inside is very dark. To make the roof, slates are put on top of the four sides of walls, stacked up, which is called ‘Takalan’. Lots of electric wires, which are good paths for rats, hang tangled and lolled out under the ‘Takalan’. The slate-roofed houses are poorly ventilated and emit an abundance of heat, so it is hard to stay in during the day. When it rains, the raindrops on the roof sound like the beating of a tin drum. When sunshine is strong, the indoor air gets even hotter than outside because the roof gets heated to the utmost limit. Consequently, people tend to leave the front door open. It is often seen that they cover the entrance with a thin fabric veil.

There is a chicken meat shop between the front row houses. The space is so small that only one adult can stand up in the shop. The owner, who is wearing a white cap which indicates that he is Muslim, keeps three or four chickens in a small hen house, which he kills and sells directly when a customer comes. He removes the insides, blood and skin from the chicken and throws these remnants on a pile. As a result, chicken feathers are often fluttering around and it smells like rotting flesh near the shop. The red signboard which says “Halal” means that the meat he sells is permissible to use according to Islamic law. This is because many Muslims live in the slum. The killed chicken meat is displayed on a stand. Flies are crawling over the meat because there is no refrigeration, but whoever buys, or sells the chicken doesn’t concern or care about the flies at all.

This chicken shop is positioned right in front of Mannesh’s house because his father rents out the shop. The chicken shop owner pays 2,000 rupees (about 15 Euros) every month for taking up their space. Mannesh’s house is located at the rear of the shop and it has the strong stench of rotting flesh. The house has a foul stench in the heat and this windowless house is not ventilated at all. Sometimes, chicken innards and feathers are washed into the house by heavy rain, which leads to a large number of rats inhabiting the house. The situation is very unhygienic.

The daily life of Mannesh and his siblings

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mother, who has to go to work at 8:30, wakes her three children and sends them to school. The 9 year old daughter Sansitha and the 7 year old daughter Navisha go to a nearby primary school together, after their simple breakfast with a small bun. Mannesh walks to the kindergarten called ‘Kusum Sevana’ with his mother. His breakfast, consisting of a bun and milk, is provided by the kindergarten.

His father, who is working as a tuk tuk (three wheeler) driver, went out at 6 o’clock to seek a delivery job in the fish market, but he doesn’t work every day. His mother goes to work after dropping Mannesh at the kindergarten. She needs to get a bus to go to her work but she frequently doesn’t have any money in her pocket. Sometimes, she is in a situation where she has to hurry to borrow 10 rupees (less than 10 eurocents) from her neighbor.

His father comes back at around 10 o’clock after finishing his early morning job, and he falls asleep again while watching TV. Two daughters come back from school at 1 o’clock and spend their time at home. They put their school bags down and change their clothes. There is no separate room in the house so they need to be careful not to wake up their father, who is sleeping in the middle of the room. The TV is endlessly turned on with loud Tamil movies all day long, even if no one watches them. The left part of the conventional cathode-ray-tube colored TV is out of order, so the scene on the TV shown is only in yellow. The children’s eyes are unwittingly fixed and gazing at the TV as well.

Mannesh spends his time with teachers in the kindergarten until his mother, who works as a housemaid, comes back from work at 4 o’ clock. Sometimes, when he is lucky, he can go home earlier if one of his neighbors comes to get him, but this is very rare. Otherwise, he should stay in the kindergarten until his mother comes. When he comes back home, he often goes next door to find somebody to play with, or he likes sitting on a rock placed in front of his house to watch cricket games that big boys play at the canal road. He prefers sitting outside rather than staying home with his sisters who are watching TV because there aren’t any proper toys for him to play with. It is much more fun to see outdoor happenings.

There are not many things to do for the children in this slum. Many tuk tuks and vehicles are passing the canal road, and older boys are playing sports such as cricket or catching ball when the road is not crowded. The boys play outside regularly and hang about around the slum. However, girls barely play outside because Hindu and Muslim families tend to forbid girls to go outside freely. It is a custom to be strict to daughters. Excluding errands, Sansitha and Navisha, who are Hindu as well, spend most of their time inside the house or in their father’s tuk tuk that is parked at the entrance of their house.

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Figure 7: Shacks in the slum

A pot of rice and curries

It is very common to see packed lunches in newspapers that are sold in the streets at lunch time in any area of Colombo. The price for each pack ranges from 150 rupees to 300 rupees (from 1 euro to 2 euro) for each portion depending on its quality. People in Kimbulahela have a particular lunch shop. Mannesh’s family also buys their lunch from this shop in the slum, and Sansitha takes charge of the lunch every day. When she comes back from the school, she needs to get some money from her father to buy their lunch, but he is usually sleeping when she comes back from school, so she has to wait till her father wakes up. When he gets up, he gives her money to bring lunch. It is often after 2:30 that they have their lunch. Sansitha takes a stainless pot and sets off to the market place. Through the sewerage alley she reaches the lunch shop. She comes back with a pot filled with rice and 2-3 types of curries cooked with cut-priced ingredients. With that, the three kids and their father solve their hunger.

This single pot of rice and curry costs 150 rupees (about 1 euro) and the amount is enough for 2-3 adults. It is much cheaper to pay for this instead of having to purchase each ingredients, rice, spices and oil for cooking. This lunch is made of the leftover ingredients which are sold in the biggest local market “Pettah”, so the price is incomparably cheaper than other lunches. The stainless pot is filled with poor quality rice which is smelly, along with watery vegetable curries

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which contains only a few solid pieces of food and ingredients. When one of the curries includes chicken, it ends up causing a fight between the children since there are only 1-2 tiny pieces of meat in them. Days when Mannesh comes home early and has to take lunch together at home, the lunch packet is way too little to feed everyone.

9 year old Sansitha, 7 year old Navisha, and 5 year old Mannesh are, just like many of the other children in the slum, underweight. On the last Wednesday of every month, there is a nurse that arrives from the ‘Ministry of Health’. On those days, there is a protracted waiting queue by the garbage dump vacant lot with families that have children below 5. The nurse measures their height, weight and age and provides 2 free packets of a nutritive labeled ‘Thriposha’ to the slum children that are underweight. To get this ‘Thriposha’, the people have to stand in the queue for hours from dawn till midday. Most of the families have adults who stand in the queue, and bring their children when it becomes their turn to check. Mannesh has never gotten the ‘Thriposha’, although he is an

Figure 8:

A pot of rice and watery curries for Mannesh’s family.

The cost is 150 rupees. They share the pot with 3 or 4. family members.

Figure 9: Sansitha and Navisha are having their lunch at home.

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equally underweighted child. His mother is at work, and his father has no interest in standing in the line in the hot sun. Instead, he would rather just stay home watching TV or sleeping.

“I am not scared of rats, but I am scared of raining”

Mannesh’s house doesn’t have any special structures so there is a square shaped room when the thin fabric veil is gathered up and that room is where the whole family sleeps, does homework, has their meals, etc. Rats run through the tangled electric wires in the ceiling, or pass the room from a corner to another while his sisters are doing their studies in the dark room lying on their stomach. When a rat passes and sideswipes their legs, it seems like nothing has happened and they just continue on what they were doing. The children are not scared of rats at all.

In the kitchen, at the rear of the room, a cooking stove that is filled with kerosene oil is placed on a small table and stainless plates are put on a shabby shelf. Beside the table, there is a tap that is winded around with linen to filter out impurities. The children just drink the tap water with their hands, but their mother boils the water when they are ill or get a flue. The tap is positioned between the polluted canal and sewerage, so the safety and quality of the tap water is very questionable.

There are two Monsoon periods in Sri Lanka, so the people are worried about flooding of the canal in the rainy season. The canal usually overflows after heavy rain. The water goes up to their ankles then goes up to their knees and there is nothing they can do. Monsoon seasons also have a big impact on the children. According to 7 year old sister, Navisha:

“I never touch anything in a rainy day. I don’t touch even a cup. Mom switches off all the light bulbs, so it becomes very dark. We just light a candle because we are afraid of thunder. I pull a blanket over my head and chat with my sister and brother. We usually talk about ghost stories. When we have lots of rain, the canal water overflow the banks and all the children in my village splash around in the puddles of rain and dabbles our toes in the water. We enjoy it! If rain comes more, my house is submerged up to my father’s knees in the water. My mother always sends me to school on heavy rainy days. Mom told me that it is dangerous to stay home due to an electric shock and there is no place to stay inside the house. So I should go to school”

The garbage dump at the entrance of the slum is jammed with animals after heavy rain fall. Rubbish, junk, and waste that glide from the stream of rainwater are scattered everywhere on the sidewalks. As a result, cows, goats, stray dogs, cats and crows linger around the garbage in search of food. When it rains after a fishmonger stops by, the whole slum smells fishy. This is because the

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fishmonger throws the leftovers and scales in the canal.

Figure 10: Garbage is scattered after raining.The garbage dump is jammed with animals

After heavy rain, the government usually sends people to check around the slum. Not to sterilize the canal for the slum dwellers, but to make sure dirty water isn’t stagnant in their houses. If there is ditchwater in any of their houses, it will increase the amount of dengue mosquitoes. Consequently, whoever does not clean the polluted water from their house has to pay a penalty 5000 rupees (about 35 Euros).

Community and neighborhood

Privacy and gossiping

The space between each house in the Bloemendhal slum is less than one meter. In most cases, walls are built with wooden boards so the neighborhood has a very close relationship with each other in negative and positive aspects. If one family listens to music, the next neighbor will hear it as well. If one family has a fight, the neighbors can hear all the inconsequential details about the quarrel. The front doors are open every day due to the hot and humid weather; people know what their neighbor cooks for their meal because the smell of food pervades their house as well.