Mumbai initiative bringing splash of color to slums

A digital marketing firm and a paints company brought colors to the homes in some of the slums in the financial capital of Mumbai in India.

The firms teamed up to paint walls of the home vibrant colors as well as decorating them with artwork.

More than six million people in Mumbai live in slums, where the two companies brought together an army of volunteers for the project.

“Once you enter Mumbai, people usually say Mumbai is a city of slums, so it's given a term called Slumbai. So that is what we want to break the taboo, break the barriers you know actually show that this is not just a place of slums. It's a beautiful place,” said Terence Ferreira, the co-founder of an initiative called Chal Rang De, which means “let's color it”.

It wasn't easy to convince the slum residents at first.

“They were a bit skeptical in terms of why you are doing this, what will you get out of it, I don't want to paint my house," Ferreira added.

But now, they are proud of their brightly colored homes.

“Film people came here and said they want to shoot here. They shoot the laundry, they shoot music and dance here. Also, our children are involved so we feel very happy,” said a local resident Aparna Choudhary.

There are hopes to spread the initiative across India and bring a touch of color to the lives of more of the country's poor.

(CGTN)