Neighbourhoods
Growing up in dangerous homes
A story about a building and its residents in Gojmohol, Hazaribagh
It is very hot and humid inside the building; I find it unbearable and frustrating. As I spend most of my time outside, I never realised it before. Now I know how much it takes to stay inside the building for a long time. Child Researcher, 16
About the building
This is the story of a multi-functional building comprising residential and commercial spaces over four floors. It is owned by a locally well-known businessperson. Residential units are rented by families and single men. Commercial units are rented by small informal enterprises for leather processing and production including leather dyeing, glove manufacturing and chemical processing. A storeroom for commercial products is also rented.
On 26 July 2023, two child researchers (a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy) along with an adult researcher conducted observations of the building for a total of five hours, over three time periods to capture the living conditions and lived experience of residents. The floor plan for each story of the building was drawn by illustrator and the observation notes, photos and videos were analysed by the CLARISSA research team and the children, before the main findings were compiled into this account.
The building is located at the side of 30 Feet Road, a bustling street in the heart of Hazaribagh’s historic leather industry, which is also known for its prevalence of worst forms of child labour. Informal leather businesses that hire children operate in and between residential spaces which are surrounded by a mix of informal (e.g., tea stalls) and formal economy (e.g., banks) activity. The description of this building on the 30 Feet Road illustrates what it is like for children and their families to live and work in the midst of the leather industry in Bangladesh.
The main passageway into the building from the gate. In contrast to the bright daylight outside, the hallway appears dark.
The brick and cement construction of this building appears to be fairly typical of mid-rise buildings in the area, which is Gojmohol, Hazaribagh. It is not aesthetically pleasing, and its internal structure cannot be seen or understood from the outside. A large gate opens into a passageway that connects to the main building. Like other buildings in this area, various commercial activities occur on the ground floor of the building, with the other three floors comprising residential units, lived in by 55 families and single men. A family pays between BDT 2,000 and BDT 2,500 (USD $18 and USD $22) a month to rent one unit.
The building is L shaped for the first two floors. The third and fourth floors are smaller in area and rectangular in shape.
Chemical-filled drums in the dark corridor in the morning.
The ground floor
The main entrance to the building is wide but dimly lit. The distinguishing characteristic of this building is the presence of a two-floor extension that can be accessed via a separate staircase from the main building. From the main street this cannot be seen. The entrance hall opens out into a sizable yard between the main building and the extension, where a rickshaw garage and communal kitchen are located.
A sizeable space is used by leather colouring businesses. There are also six glove factories and two chemical dye factories on the ground floor, some of which are located in the extension. These businesses operate in the midst of units that families and individuals rent as living space.
The owner of the building owns the leather colouring machines and rents them to businesses. These machines are loud and the ground floor is, as a result, never quiet. When the machines run nonstop in the evening time, residents are very irritated. Nobody on the ground floor can hear each other speak when the machines are running.
The layout of the ground floor of the building.
The kitchen space for the entire building.
The kitchen area serves the entire building. It is surrounded by litter and is located near the rickshaw garage. Dogs and chickens also frequent this area and there are flies all over the rubbish.
There is an unpleasant odor permeating the ground floor of the building. It is almost impossible to maintain normal breathing due to the strong leather and rubbish odours. There is no usable toilet on the ground floor.
The first floor
The first floor is the same shape as the first but with a central terrace between some of the residential rooms and some larger community spaces. The terrace is open air and spacious. The corridors are narrow with light entering at each end. The hallways are too small for two people to walk side by side. The walls are neither painted nor plastered, which leaves them unprotected from moisture.
There is one bathroom on this floor, consisting of two toilets. There is a club located on the rooftop on this level, where children and adults learn dance and perform in different community events.
Narrow corridors on the second floor illustrate how little space there is between living spaces
The layout of the first floor of the building.
The second floor
The second floor is divided into 2.7 metre x 3 metre rooms that are all residential. The rooms are adjacent to each other with limited ventilation. Several portions of the wall have not been plastered, and plaster has fallen off. The floor is not very even underfoot.
There is another bathroom, consisting of two toilets and one bathing place, and a rooftop, which does not have any safety railings. It is strewn with dirt and rods. The rooftop is used for drying leather and drying food snacks.
The second-floor rooftop.
The layout of the second floor of the building.
The third floor
In contrast to the rooftops on the first and second floors, the third-floor rooftop is very clean, with railings and plants that make it visually appealing. The rooms on this floor are south facing and residents can open windows to bring air flow in from outside.
There is a large leather drying area and a dance club frequented by men.
Previously, we used to climb onto the roof, but the men in this building do not appreciate it. They only want to use it for their entertainment. Once, someone from this building threw polythene bags filled with water at some girls to prevent them from accessing the rooftops. After that, parents also do not like to allow their girls to visit the rooftop. Child researcher, 15 years old
A child-researcher (15 years old) on the stairs of the building
The layout of the third floor of the building.
Life in the building
The building is home to families and single men. Typically, a family of four to six people will occupy a 2.7 metre x 3 metre room and two or three single men will often club together to rent a similar sized room. Researchers observed how cramped and stuffy it is inside the rooms. The vent and tiny window in each room is insufficient to allow air to circulate. The research team arrived by 9.30 in the morning to begin their observations and on the first day of their observation the temperature was already 34 degrees Celsius at this time.
On the day the research team visited, not all of the residents of this building were out at work. On the second floor, a man was playing popular loudly from his Bluetooth speaker all day long.
Women were busy preparing meals for their family and carrying out household duties, and while everyone else was getting rest or went outside in the evening, many of them worked on leather pieces in their individual rooms. The CLARISSA team also noted that men chopped vegetables and cooked in the shared kitchen alongside women. Many children over 10 years old work leather factories on the ground floor. Younger children are often unattended and play unsupervised in the building during the daytime. Accidents happen. Young girls undertake household chores.
At noon, residents who worked in nearby factories were observed coming home for lunch. Many of these workers were children under 18 years of age. Rain throughout the day brought residents challenges and hazards including slippery floors. By evening time, the building was dark and forbidding.
The building contains many dangers for residents, including unsuitable cooking facilities, slippery stairs, unsafe bathrooms, unattended young children and poor or non-existent lighting (particularly challenging for the children and adults who work with leather in the evening).
The staircase is open to the sky
Hindi songs from a neighbour
The kitchen space for the entire building.
The challenges of cooking
There are only four stoves in the entire building which is insufficient for the 55 families and groups of men living in it.
It is 12 pm, it starts to rain. A woman is cooking at that time. She has nothing clean to cover herself or the food. So, she covers her food with a dirty plate and is drenched completely in the rain. It is already a dirty space. There is just a tin roof over the kitchen, and it has lots of holes. The rain makes it muddier and smellier. The trash from the drain is coming above the surface. She is just finishing her cooking in a hurry and trying to get back to the building again. Child researcher, 16 years old
A lot of gas goes out when the stove is lit up. Once my stole caught on fire, an adult’s leg got burned. Some days ago, a lady was cooking when her dress almost caught fire. She did not even notice. Another person came and saw, and they put the fire out. If the person did not come what could happen, I just can’t imagine. Child researcher, 15 years old
As a common space people trying to use the kitchen can experience discrimination from other residents.
Finally, the transgender woman got access to one stove to cook for herself and her husband. But it is already dark outside. At the moment, she and another woman are sharing a kitchen space. They are not talking to one another, which I assume is a daily scenario because I have not seen anyone in this building talk to her willingly. Research assistant
Rain and slippery stairs
Rain makes the whole building slippery and risky. After 30 minutes of rain the building became muddy, the stairs were increasingly slippery and accidents started to happen.
The stairs are becoming more slippery as the rainwater flows down from the roof. There is no way for the water to be discharged. Children are jumping from one stair to another. Two other children are walking alone down the stairs. The stairs are slick and muddy, so they slip and fall and begin to cry. Children seem to fall from the staircases quite frequently here, it is dangerous for them.
Even without rain the stairs are slippery as the washrooms are positioned close to the stairs and this means that people walk up and down with wet sandals and carrying freshly washed clothes which drip.
An open staircase with no railings.
Bathing
The main water tank in the building is dirty. The residents use the same water for bathing and drinking. When someone takes a bath, they tie a piece of cotton cloth to the water tap because they think it prevents dirty water from leaving the tap.
When it comes to bathing, there is no such thing as privacy. The shower area has no doors; rather, there is a large, filthy cloth hanging as a curtain. Whilst the toilets have doors anyone using the toilet can easily see someone taking shower if they open the door.
There are no lights in the bathroom. When questioned, a resident responded, “We are used to it. Why should we bother if the authorities do not care to put a bulb in the bathroom?”
While I was taking a shower, the curtain was suddenly moved by another resident. They could not see anything because it was almost dark, but it was incredibly embarrassing nonetheless, and I am still hesitant to take a shower at any time of day. Female resident, 36 years old Researcher
Women adjust their behaviour to ensure more privacy from men. They wait until there are fewer men in the building so they can take showers, wash their clothes, and use the bathrooms. They usually avoid the lunch hour when most men come back for lunch.
Once, a girl went to take a shower and saw that the toilet door was locked. She repeatedly questioned if anyone was inside. Nobody responded. She then began to shower. She was in the middle of taking a shower when she heard a noise coming from the toilet. Then a man shouted that he was inside and was about to leave. The girl had just finished taking a shower when she fled the scene, carrying only a towel. She was quite frightened since she could be seen through the door’s peephole. Or, generally, anything could happen which might hamper her reputation. Child Researcher, 15
Looking at the toilets from the open shower area which only has a curtain to protect the privacy of the bather.
Unattended children
Many unattended children were observed running and playing in the building.
The boy-girl ratio is fifty-fifty. They are having lots of fun. They have chosen to play in front of a room on the second floor of the building. No adult is paying attention to them.
Not a single adult was observed supervising any children. A child was crying but no one was attempting to soothe her.
Many of the children are completely or partially naked. Even though the stairs and floors of the building are consistently muddy and wet throughout the day, most children don’t wear sandals.
Children playing a game and gambling small amounts of money
Girls and household chores
Girls were observed doing household chores. The work looked hard and dangerous considering their age.
Now it is 11 am. A 10-year-old girl is carrying a full pot of rice from the kitchen space to the main building. The pot is very hot. She is trying to reach the stairs but is exhausted, she is sweating, and her face is red. She catches a breath, and then carries it again to another floor. Child researcher, 15 years old
Looking from the kitchen to the staircase in the evening.
Cooking in the dark.
Leather work in the building
During the lunch hour, the children working in glove factories played games on their mobile phones.
In a chemical dyeing factory, a boy aged 14 years old was working. Drums with chemicals inside were placed outside the room. A boy was putting a lot of effort into his work.
By bending halfway over the drum and removing chemicals from the drum, the boy entered the drum. Without a doubt, it is a very dangerous job for anyone, let alone children. He does not seem to care at all about the possible risk of the chemical dye.
Adult researcher
A lack of light in the evening makes working conditions worse.
Discussion
The story of this building illustrates how much harder life can be when the place you live is unsafe and in disrepair. From accidents to feelings of insecurity, day-to-day life in this building is a continuous negotiation of when one can cook, when one can bathe, where one can put their feet, which floor one can go to. Inequality of movement is a big issue – men can go where and how they like; women have to plan their movements through more carefully. The presence of a nightclub in a building where children are growing up does not feel safe. Inequality of light is also an issue. A lot of girls and women work in the evening, after they have completed household chores. This is when the light is at its lowest. For female residents, the building is a political territory that does not allow them to relax and be themselves.
It is striking that so much leather work happens in a building where families live. It is striking again that most of the work is being carried out by children, some very young. A large amount of the leather processing undertaken in this building involves chemicals and dyes which can lead to medium and long-term health issues, including cancer, when exposure is persistent, yet no safety measures are in place. The literature often says that the worst forms of child labour is invisible, but invisible to whom? For the children growing up in this building, the worst forms of child labour take place next to where they enter and exit their home and in the next room from where they sleep.
I have written almost everything bad about the building, because there is nothing good to write about
Child researcher, 15 years of age
The integration of the leather industry into the day-to-day of people’s home lives is symbolically illustrated by a landlord who owns the building as well the noisy machines that informal enterprises rent to dye leather. Despite the impact the noise is having, the residents do not have a third party to raise the issue with because the landlord also owns the machines. These sorts of power realities make the situation seem hopeless. Yet there is value to be had in exploring the interrelationship between buildings and people’s experience of poverty. Spaces that are uncared for make life a lot harder. On the flipside, a little attention can change perspectives:
I never realized how much my mother struggles just to cook for us. The kitchen is so far away, and if it is raining, it is unbearable. I never helped my mother with the chores, now I can see how hard she works. From now I will help her and my sister-in-law who also live here.
Child researcher, 16 years of age
The building mapping process
The intention behind mapping residential buildings in the Gojmohol neighbourhood of Hazaribagh was to capture the living conditions and lived experience of residents. Child researchers and community mobilisers ena
The intention behind mapping residential buildings in the Gojmohol neighbourhood of Hazaribagh was to capture the living conditions and lived experience of residents. The CLARISSA Children’s Research Group selected this building for observation while they were mapping the 30 Feet Road. The 30 Feet Road is significant to them as most of them live nearby and hang out close to the building. They were aware of children involved in telling Stories of Children’s Days who had reflected about how worried and on edge they felt at home. It was striking to CLARISSA that some children felt safer at work than in the building where they lived.
Following a one-day workshop to practice observation methods and effective recording techniques (including note writing, audio recordings, videos and photos), as well as develop safeguarding and consent plans, the children proposed suitable observation times.
On July 26, 2023, two children, one girl (aged 15) and one boy (aged 16), along with an adult researcher, conducted observations in this building for a total of five hours, over three time periods. The children proposed 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM, believing it to be a time for various activities in the building, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, aiming to capture the moment when workers returned for and 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM when all working people returned home. Observations were not continued after 7:30 PM due to safety concerns. The observers did not enter any rooms but were able to observe inside activities as the doors were often open.
The day after the observations, the CLARISSA team and the children conducted a debriefing session. During this session, they shared their overall experiences, discussed their observations in detail, and answered probing questions from the CLARISSA team. Detailed notes were compiled from these discussions.