Anandhan was born somewhere in the south of India around the region of Tamil Nadu in an indigenous, once nomad tribe, called ‘Londor'. When he was about 15, the government gave his community a piece of unwanted and isolated land to settle.
In 2015 a 30 percent of Londor's families lost their homes after an El Niño year which led to a mayor flood leaving approximately $1 billion in damages in the Tamil Nadu area.
People of Londor build their own houses with vernacular practices. They go from 15 to 25 square meters, have only one room with no kitchen or bathroom and are habited by up to 6 members of the same family. According to the last Census report of SEC, "as many as 23.7 million families in rural India live in houses of one room with 'kachcha' (impermanent) walls and roof."
There is no system of trash recollection for Londor. So it is burned regularly.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays community members travel to temples to beg for money. The eldest in worst conditions are put to beg as they earn more money for their families. Begging is their main household income. During religious celebrations like Ramadan, the entire family goes begging.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) insures a 100 days of minimum wage employment for Londor's adults who volunteer to do unskilled jobs.
As a nomad tribe, people of Londor were used to recollect herbs and spices to cook. Ellamal, mother of Anandhan uses her time of the MGNREGA work to keep this practice alive.
From ages 1 to 5 children are used by their parents to beg for money. After that, most of them don't attend school. They have limited access to clothes and most of them run naked with few parent attention.
Chandiran has two wives and three kids. Chitra is his first wife. With the money they gather from begging and doing the MGNREGA unskilled work, they manage to feed their family with less than a dollar a day.
Like most adults of Londor, Anadhan has a severe problem with alcoholism. Dancing and drinking helps him forget for a moment his own reality.
Although must of the community has houses, at night, most of Londor's members prefer gathering and even sleeping on the street trying to escape the unbearable heat. On summer, temperatures rise up to 45º C.
The story repeats itself more often than we think. Nandini is 22 years old, this is her third son. Most of Londor's women get pregnant before they turn 18 and they have up to 3 or 4 children that will grow in unspeakable poverty and appalling social condtitions.
Anandhan was born somewhere in the south of India around the region of Tamil Nadu in an indigenous, once nomad tribe, called ‘Londor'. When he was about 15, the government gave his community a piece of unwanted and isolated land to settle.
In 2015 a 30 percent of Londor's families lost their homes after an El Niño year which led to a mayor flood leaving approximately $1 billion in damages in the Tamil Nadu area.
People of Londor build their own houses with vernacular practices. They go from 15 to 25 square meters, have only one room with no kitchen or bathroom and are habited by up to 6 members of the same family. According to the last Census report of SEC, "as many as 23.7 million families in rural India live in houses of one room with 'kachcha' (impermanent) walls and roof."
There is no system of trash recollection for Londor. So it is burned regularly.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays community members travel to temples to beg for money. The eldest in worst conditions are put to beg as they earn more money for their families. Begging is their main household income. During religious celebrations like Ramadan, the entire family goes begging.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) insures a 100 days of minimum wage employment for Londor's adults who volunteer to do unskilled jobs.
As a nomad tribe, people of Londor were used to recollect herbs and spices to cook. Ellamal, mother of Anandhan uses her time of the MGNREGA work to keep this practice alive.
From ages 1 to 5 children are used by their parents to beg for money. After that, most of them don't attend school. They have limited access to clothes and most of them run naked with few parent attention.
Chandiran has two wives and three kids. Chitra is his first wife. With the money they gather from begging and doing the MGNREGA unskilled work, they manage to feed their family with less than a dollar a day.
Like most adults of Londor, Anadhan has a severe problem with alcoholism. Dancing and drinking helps him forget for a moment his own reality.
Although must of the community has houses, at night, most of Londor's members prefer gathering and even sleeping on the street trying to escape the unbearable heat. On summer, temperatures rise up to 45º C.
The story repeats itself more often than we think. Nandini is 22 years old, this is her third son. Most of Londor's women get pregnant before they turn 18 and they have up to 3 or 4 children that will grow in unspeakable poverty and appalling social condtitions.