Blog Topic #4 -- What's Up with South Asia/India

Well it has been quite some time since I last posted mainly because this topic required research and, well, actually choosing a topic.  This week we are headed to the subcontinent of India called a subcontinent because of its separation from the rest of Asia by the Himalaya mountain range, home of Mt. Everest.  The subcontinent is actually a peninsula that juts out into the Indian ocean bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east.  Besides the country of India, the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal are located directly on the subcontinent with Maldives and Sri Lanka south as island nations in the Indian Ocean.

Our focus, however, will be on the main country of India.  India has a population of approximately 1.1 billion people, twenty-eight percent of which live in urban settings.  Although its official language in Hindi, the government recognizes eighteen other regional languages.  The primary religion is Hinduism although there are a few other religious groups such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam (although most Muslims moved to Islamic Pakistan during the Partition of India).  It is classified as a developing country although it is not a Least Developed Country.  India has steadily begun to take steps that will move it towards a more developed future.  The Golden Quadrilateral Highway, a recent project, when completed will cover 3,633 miles and connect the main cities of Delhi (the capital), Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai.  Other areas, such as the Silicon Plateau or Bangalore, are home to large technological corporations. 

With the development occurring, one would think that India is a budding prosperous nation.  However, the area is the second poorest world region with 300 million of its citizens living below the poverty standard.  Twenty percent of its citizens are undernourished and slums are large in that area.  In fact, the Dharvi slum in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, is the second largest slum in the world and the largest in Asia.  According to National Geographic, it is home to around one million people with 18,000 people per acre!

This "shadow city", however, recently served as the star location for the movie "Slumdog Millionaire".  For anyone who has not seen the movie, it tells the story of how a boy from the Dharvi slum grows up to be on the show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and wins by knowing the answers through his life experience.  It also provides a fairly accurate representation of life and culture in India.  Since the movie's release, a new trend has started known as "Slum Tourism".  Tourists to Mumbai, and other locations with slums around the world, are given a tour of the slum to see how the community works and lives.  It is beneficial to both sides; the tourists are educated in reality and the slum dwellers receive payment.

Slum tourism is not an entirely new concept.  In the 1800's, wealthy citizens of New York would travel through poverty areas to see how the lower class lived.  Only recently has it become a controversial topic.  Some believe that it is beneficial for the afore mentioned reason; one side is educated, the other side receives money.  However, some argue that it is wrong mainly because it makes poverty a form of entertainment.  They argue that when people leave, they really haven't learned anything, but have just seen the sight as if it was any other destination.  They cannot understand what life in slums is truly like by merely taking a tour and returning to their luxuries.  Members of the slums may not feel to happy about it either.  A former slum dweller wrote that a women took his picture making him feel like a tiger in a cage.

While both points are strongly debatable, the fact remains that slums are not going anywhere anytime soon.  Some people have lived in slums for three or four generations.  As long as there is poverty and large urban areas in the world, slums (and slum tours) will continue to exist.  There are ways that people can and are helping.  Pratham, an organization founded in Mumbai in 1994, for example, helps children in slums receive medical care and some education as well as negotiate with factories to release child laborers.  AVSAR (Alliance of Volunteers for Service, Action, and Reform) also works with underprivileged areas throughout India.

For more information on Dharvi, how to help, and an editorial for the New York Times by a former slum dweller, check out these links!

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/how-to-help

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/opinion/10odede.html

Or for a good glance, watch the movie "Slumdog Millionaire"...it may be intense at times (or all the time) but it is worth it!  That's all for now; see you next time =)

Blog Topic #3 -- What's up with Southeast Asia?

Today we strangly head north to Southeast Asia.  Consisting of primarily of islands and a tiny penisula off of Asia, Southeast Asia has some of the most diverse collection of countries ranging from advanced countries, such as Singapore, to the least developed countries of the world, such as Myanmar.  It is located in the tropics just above the equator giving most of it a tropical climate although some areas are more subtropical or highlands.  This is, in fact, the vision I and most people think of when Southeast Asia is mentioned.  A tropical paradise located on sandy beaches or in tropical jungles.  However, such is not the case for many inhabitants, especially in the LDCs of the area.  In fact, Southeast Asia contains four out of the nine least developed countries in Asia.  The tropical climate is not always swaying palm trees either as these areas often have monsoon seasons dominated by rain.

One of these countries is that of Cambodia.  This country was of particular intrest to me after seeing a presentation in class of my professor's mission trip there.  So I searched Cambodia on National Geographic to see what my first hit would be.  This video, which describes the Angor Wat, was the first video listed.  It portrays this poor country as a spectacular tourist destination.

In fact, the country's second greatest source of income through tourism.  The greatest source of income for it, however, is through the textile industry, a trait that is common in most LDCs.  I would not immediately think of an LDC country with the conditions that it currently has as a prime tourist attraction.  However, through this video, one would not immediately gain the sense that the country is impovish not evening drinking clean water!  This picture is from the capital city of Phnom Phen and shows the conditions of the main city (as well as the large amount of Motorbikes)

Perhaps the greatest geographic feature that is demonstrated in this video is the diversity of religion.  Religion plays a key role in all civilizations and cultures as well as being geographical.  The temple of Angor Wat was built for King Suryavarman II and was dedicated to Vishnu, a Hindu god.  At the time, Hinduism was the main religion of the area.  This changed however with the spread of Buddhism from India and into areas of East and Southeast Asia.  Now the temple, although the main tourist attraction in Cambodia, serves as a temple for Buddha.  It also is the largest religious center in the world.  The Angor Wat is of such great importance to the people of Cambodia that it is the symbol on their flag! 

Buddhism is the main religion in Cambodia with 96% of its citizens following Buddha's teachings.  It is not uncommon to see Buddhist monks walking down the streets.  In fact, most of the penisula of Southeast Asia is Buddhist.  This changes, however, as you head south into Indonesia, the area changes rapidly from primarily Buddhist to the largest Islamic country in the world, Indonesia.

Once again, I, regretfully, must end the post.  More geographic topics coming soon!

 

Okay maybe I couldn't end my talk about Southeast Asia without a picture of a Tuk Tuk....what can I say except that its fun to say!