Raghu (shown in the picture with his mother and sister) is a 14 year old boy living in the slums of Ambernath in Mumbai, India. His parents work as Rag Pickers collecting plastic waste and metal to earn a daily wage to provide food for the family. Raghu does not go to school. Each morning he gets up with his family and they eat leftover food from the day before if there is any. Then Raghu along with his parents goes into the city to collect plastic bottles and metal items.

Then in the afternoon the family goes to the dumping ground where the local municipal dumps all the garbage collected from the city. Here Raghu separates the waste and looks for items he can sell in the recycling plant. He does this without wearing any gloves and often cuts his fingers due to unknown sharp objects from the garbage. The family receives their day wage in the evening and then they buy only food and go back to their slum community. His mother prepares dinner for the family. He goes to bed right after dinner waiting for another day to repeat the same routine to survive.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus has affected the whole world. It has affected the people living in slums of Mumbai immensely. The people fear they will die of starvation rather than infection from the virus. The Indian government has issued a complete lockdown for 21 days. This means Raghu, his family and many other families like his cannot leave the community to work to provide food. Life is quite difficult for Raghu’s family and all the others in the slums of Mumbai.