Stories behind the scenes

Our Summer 2017 intern, Aiman Hassanally, has been working on a passion project to highlight the plight of Indian slum residents and their daily struggle with gaining access to potable water.

At Rehla Design, we care deeply for our teams' interests and were eager to share relevant research approaches with Aiman to enable her to tell better stories. Here are some of the pictures she took on a recent trip and accompanying thoughts.

 "I travelled to Dharvi, Ghazdhar Bandh and Badhwar Park’s slum where there is no guarantee that hygienic water is accessible on a given day.

To gain greater understanding of the hardships faced in slums on a day-to-day basis, I initiated conversation with slum residents about problems their lives consisted of — majority of them having an easy fix: stable access to clean water.

To convey my new findings to a larger audience, I decided to capture moments through photography in hopes of creating a display that would raise awareness about the issue. I took photos of people, what their living situations were, how they get their water from and where they store it.

The photos combined with stories about the experiences they shared with me, may perhaps shine light on their perspectives, daily obligations and routines. This way more people can come to the realization, the same way I have, that clean water is crucial to saving people in the slums from sickness, debt and even conflict within the community.

Thanks for sharing your findings Aiman, and letting Rehla Design be a part of this inspiring initiative!