The Pipe Village

We visited a place today called "the pipe village," so named because families have created homes for themselves out of rejected concrete pipes from a nearby factory. One mother proudly showed us inside her home and pointed out her kitchen area, sleeping area, and closet--all inside a cylinder that was too small for me to stand up in.

A family of 12 lives in one of these pipes. There is no electricity or running water anywhere in the village, and the 45 families that live here eat only rice for every meal. They said that once a month they might get to have chicken with their rice as a special treat.

These people are Dalits, the untouchables of India. They are the outcasts of society and are told that because of sin in a previous life they are worse than animals and must serve the upper castes. They are taught to believe that it would have been better if they had never been born.

We saw one woman cleaning animal feces off of the road. We're told this is one of the only jobs that Dalit people can have. When the sewers get clogged some Dalit men are lowered into the sewers to clean them with their bare hands, human waste coming up to their hips.

We didn't solve these problems today. But we did spend some time in this village, we played with their children, sang songs, and held their babies. Despite their extreme poverty, the people of the Pipe Village were joyful. They were excited to see us and gladly posed for pictures. They were especially excited to see these pictures on the backs of our digital cameras.

It amazed and convicted me to think how often I complain about "money being tight" or say that I am bored, yet this community with almost nothing besides their pipes warmly welcomed us and smiled from ear to ear just to be with us.

I'm sure there is a lesson in that for all of us.

--MB