Comm: "What's it like if your home can come under seige at any moment? Or if the walls can be torn down and you have no recourse to the law? That's the reality for hundreds of millions who live in the squatter settlements of the world's burgeoning cities.

"The 21st century will be the urban century. Last week in New York at the UN's city summit a renwed commitment was made to making life better for the deprived communities in the world's towns and cities. Recognising the right of the poor to live without the fear of summary eviction was singled out as one of the key challenges.

"This week Earth Report goes back to the streets where we'll meet the people and communities who are coming together to secure their homes.

Title: Facing the Threat

Caption: Cochambamba, Bolivia

Comm: "Cochabamba. Bolivia's fourth largest city. It does not look as if it has a problem with land. But the people living on the city outskirts tell a different story.

Teodora Campoz, Molle Molle: "We take a roll call every morning, and every midday, so that we're constantly guarding our land against anyone who comes and wants to destroy our houses. We have to be careful. We must look after ourselves and defend ourselves.

"Companions, companions. I insist that you stay here permanently on the land. We are at risk of being driven out again. You need to be vigilant all the time. Everyone needs to be present - all the time. This is a message from the top - because we've seen that we're in danger of being thrown off by people who are trying to harm us. Therefore I insist on a greater presence of people here on the land."

Comm: "Teodora and her community are working as a group to secure their land. When this is done, the NGO, Pro Habitat, will help improve their homes. Their strength, they say, comes from working together."

Teodora Campoz: "We must stay here because otherwise a tractor will come and bulldoze the houses. The tractor might come here at any moment, so that's why we have to be here permanently.

"All of us united, we have to fight, we have to defend ourselves united.

"This is the house of the rich people. It's as a result of the rich people that we're suffering. The plots of land go up in price - because these people have come to live in this area and as they have more money they can purchase the land and build their own houses. But we can't compete. We don't have the money to do that.

"We came here from Potesi a long time ago - in 1987 - to look for work and a better way of life

"We had to move from house to house for work - in ten years we've lived in ten houses. Now we're here, we really want to stay here - I don't want to move anywhere else."

Comm: "Whilst labelled illegal, settlements are excluded from essential basic services."

Teodora Campoz: "Because we live in an illegal settlement we don't have electricity or water, not even a rubbish collection comes up here. Because we're not yet legal we aren't allowed to do the paperwork to get these service - electricity - water. There is electricity installed here - but our enemies have cut our supply from the cables."

Comm: "Fear of eviction and a lack of basic amenities aren't the only hardships facing the residents of Molle Molle. They also face Chagas disease - a parasitic infection spread by insects. It causes incurable damage to the heart, brain and intestines."

Teodora Campoz: "In this valley there are lots of these insects called vinchucas - especially in these areas - the shanty towns - and you can die from the vinchuca's bite 6 or 20 years later - it's very dangerous. The illness is called chagas, because it brings home death."

Comm: "Nearly half a million people in Bolivia suffer from Chagas disease. 3 million more are at risk."
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Teodora Campoz: "Marcello I've seen a vinchuca. Look it has wings on it. (Where's your father?) It's turning again - I'm scared.

"Because they fly - in this area there's so many. Where I lived before - just one block away from here, there were lots of vinchucas, every night we had to kill them - three or four big ones. Sometimes in my baby's cot and the children's beds."

Comm: "Pro Habitat runs a Chagas control programme. It's provided health education and practical assistance to over 4000 families. Soon the programme will begin work in Molle Molle."

Dreams for the Future

Sarote Phaksumlee: "My greatest dream is to have a proper floor - a cement floor and to finish off plastering this room. We might have electricity and have lights. I'd like the kitchen to be properly roofed. And the quicker we can do this the better - that's my big dream at the moment."

Title: Culture not Congestion/Jammin It

Caption: Bangkok, Thailand

Comm: "Nestled between the high rise blocks and highways the Ban Krua community is a world apart from Bangkok's relentless drive for modernisation. But, even this centuries old community is now at risk from a road building scheme."

Aston: Sarote Phaksumlee, Ban Krua Community

Sarote Phaksumlee: "This is my house, I was born here, delivered by a local midwife, the placenta was buried under the house according to the tradition of the Cham Muslims.

"It's a Thai style house made of old wood and the original roof was made of leaves. I'm 48 years old now and I still live here in my parents house, the house is over 100 years old but we've changed the roof - it's not made of leaves anymore - it's corrugated iron now."

Comm: "The people of Ban Krua have lived here for 300 years. The land was granted to them by the King for their efforts in repelling a foreign invader.

"Ban Krua was built on the water, like all old settlements here. This canal dug at the time of King Rama II, it's called San Saep canal.

"From this point of view, we can see the ongoing changes in the Ban Krua community - small houses with corrugated iron rooves and others with tiles. But that is the highest building in Thailand, it's called Bai Yok tower."

Sarote Phaksumlee: "Our community is surrounded by high buildings. Some people might think this community is ugly and not developed the way it should be, but a city should be composed of many parts, not just skyscrapers. There must also be houses here where people live, these should be preserved.

"Now they want to build an expressway through our community, right past this mosque. They want to move us away, the whole community will have to move. We've been protesting against this project for 13 years."

Comm: "Two public hearings have decided in favour of the Ban Krua community. They agree that the community's destruction would be a terrible price to pay for a freeway that would do little to solve the city's appalling traffic congestion."

Sarote Phaksumlee: "The expressway will pass here. This gate was built to prevent the intervention of the Expressway Authority of Thailand. The expressway officials want to survey the area, and we stop them by locking this gate.

"And after midnight, the door is closed to prevent strangers from entering the community.

"We try to leave as few entrances to the community as possible to prevent invasion by unfriendly people, that's why we built these gates."

Comm: "As other settlements faced arson attacks when they refused to move the community screen all outsiders."

Sarote Phaksumlee: "Here, they built a pillar to support the expressway. So far we've stopped them, so the pillar has become like a monument to what they want to do.

"These are the speakers we use to announce news to the community. When the police or officers from the expressway authority come, we announce it on this system. Once, the police used a stick to try and break the wires.

"Auntie Bamroong is one of the people who always joins our protests. Even though she is old, she feels her life is deeply rooted in the community.

"She makes a living by selling things like this."

Old Lady: "I will fight until they lose."

Comm: "Some people may say that this community has not caught up with the modern world, for instance the style of the houses. But people shouldn't have a fixed idea that a house has to look a certain way. Each community has their own style it may not be modern or new but our culture means passing down knowledge and depending on each other.

"Despite the earlier rulings in favour of the community, the expressway company has requested a third public hearing - Ban Krua is not deterred.

Sarote Phaksumlee: "In society, different ways of life should not be seen as alien. Different communities must be allowed to develop in their own way, not necessarily the same way.

"I hope Ban Krua community stays here. We will take care of our houses, make them nice places to live in, we will get rid of the garbage and prevent the spread of the drug problem to our community and look after the health of the people here.

"Do not try to develop by moving us to a new place and putting us in buildings like matchboxes - flats or condominiums - we want to stay on our land."

Another Way

Caption: Harare, Zimbabwe

Chipo Mutumbu, Zimbabwe Homeless Peoples' Federation: "At the end of `93 the government of this country, they said the farm where you are living, you are not supposed to live there.

"They said by today you must leave the farm and when you leave the farm, by one o'clock it should be clear."

Comm: "4000 people were also made homeless (with Chipo Mutumbu)."

Chipo Mutumbu: "We had nowhere to go. And then we just came along the road and came there. It was difficult to stay there, most of the people were having diarrhea, the water was not right.

"When the government took us from that road and leave us here, they said we were not going to stay for long. Maybe we were going to stay for three months and then they are going to shift you. But now it's about seven years being here."

Comm: "Chipo Mutumbu was one of 13000 others living in the holding camp. Another million are currently estimated to live in squatter settlements, hostels and holding camps."

Chipo Mutumbu: "I've got three kids, my young sister and my nephew. So we are six. We have got two rooms.

"Here there are so many problems that we are facing. Especially the children, where they go to school, it's so far, it's not near, some of the children they are not going to school because of the, because of the money. The parents who are staying here, most of them they are not children they are not going to school because of the, because of the money."

Comm: "Like many others, Chipo, does her best to earn money. Even though like the school, the camp is an hour away from the market."

Chipo Mutumbu: "For myself to survive, most of the time I go to the market and buy some tomatoes, oranges, apples and other fruits. And then if I come back I'll have to sell all those fruits, then I'll get the money, that's why I'm going to get the money to buy the fruit for my children.

"The journey's very tough, we really take those Kombis' but it will be very difficult for us to reach the market. Let's get in this one."

Comm: "Chipo joined the Zimbabwe Homeless Peoples Federation which is working with `Dialogue on Shelter' to help people find solutions for themselves."

Chipo Mutumbu: "During those years some of the people they start to make some co-operatives and the local government said you must do some housing schemes, so you have to start yourself to build that stand because there is no house, no toilet, no water, you have to start yourself."

Comm: "There are now 28 savings schemes with 4000 members throughout Zimbabwe. Together they have over 10 000 US Dollars in the bank. They've set up information centres in 7 squatter settlements where they hold meetings and training programmes.

Chipo Mutumbu: "The federation is helping me, they have given me the loan to build a house. They are building the house now but it's not yet finished.

"This is the toilet and this is the bathroom and this room is a spare bedroom this one, and this one is another room and also again, it's also again another spare bedroom. But I really like it, I love it, I can't say, although it is small, to me it is so big.

"I'm looking to the federation to give me another loan. To finish these three rooms because I haven't got anywhere to get another money to finish this house.

"Now we don't think that that five hundred US dollar is now going to finish the house because here in Zimbabwe, the material is going up every day so we need another five hundred US dollar to finish the house."

Comm: "The local Federations with help from Indian and South African homeless peoples groups built a life size house model in an exhibition which was used to inspire the Housing Minister."

Chipo Mutumbu: "I don't want to squat again. Where I am staying right now should be the last squat in my life.

"My dreams are only dreaming for the house. If I get it, I'll be dreaming being in the house, the house would be finished."

On the Right Track

Caption: Mumbai, India

Comm: "With over half of Mumbai's 12 million population living in inadequate housing on less than 8% of the land the need for a large scale solution was urgent. SPARC, the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres, NSDF, the National Slum Dwellers Federation and Mahila Milan has been working with grassroots communities, to show that they hold the key to such solutions.

"Digambar Govind Goankar is a member of the Railway Slum Dwellers Federation (RSDF) which represented the 32 000 households living within 50 feet of the railway track.

"It was formed in 1989 after a survey brought the slumdwellers together to explore how they could be relocated away from the tracks. And it found solidarity with the other groups SPARC, NSDF and Mahila Milan."

Digambar Govind Goankar, Railway Slum Dwellers Federation (RSDF): "For 26 years I have lived in the railway track slums.

"In my home village I had a big house. I had 5 brothers and my father was a farmer. When we grew up, there was not enough farm work for all of us, so we all moved out to look for work in Mumbai.

"My children were born and brought up in the slums. My wife, who also comes from my home village, thought we shouldn't live in a slum. But we knew that in order to earn, we had to live here. My children were born and brought up here, they are very happy to stay they like their neighbours and even my wife has gotten used to it. For so many years we have lived here, We've been very happy."

Comm: "From 1998 to 99 discussion with the railway authorities to explore relocations began as the need to improve railway services was being designed.

"But in March 2000 a breach of trust led to the demolition of over 3000 houses."

Digambar Govind Goankar: "When our houses were demolished we felt terrible. We had lived here for so long. In front of our eyes they demolished our houses. We saw all the money we'd spent, all the years we had lived here disappear in a flash in front of our eyes (and families). It was all demolished. We felt terrible. We felt like dying. We had lost our home.

"Where I am sitting now is where my house used to be."

Comm: "The homeless coalition rallied and asked for immediate relocation. They managed to get 2000 families into apartments in tenements blocks. The remainder have been put up in transit housing where Goankar lives and presides over the residents committee."

Digambar Govind Goankar: "There is talk of future plans to move us all into apartment buildings in three years. The time limit on the transit camp is three years; we will not stay here a day over three years.

"My usual routine is to get up at 4:35, have a bath, pray, and then look after kitchen things. Then I go to do RSDF work. People come for various reasons some don't have a house, others want to change their house, some have other problems and some just want to see the boss. I have to try to satisfy everyone to the best of my ability."

Comm: "By May 2001 over 13000 families had relocated themselves away from the tracks creating history about partnerships and the government."

Digambar Govind Goankar: "The government policy is to try and develop slum land. If they want the land to develop, they must first consult the slum people, because they lived there for so long they have to talk to them. The people will be ready to give back the land but before that the government has to find alternative accommodation and provide them with all the facilities in that accommodation. Even we as slum people agree in the development of a city.

"I feel I should be loyal to the slum dwellers but we have to work together to save money without fighting with the government without demonstration. That won't help us with us we lived in the slums and then we moved to better houses the same thing can happen all over the world by negotiating with the government we can all work together."

Comm: "The circumstances in which the partnership has been created by the railways and other homeless groups with the Government could scarcely have been more forbidding. Other slum dwelling federations have urged their governments to visit Mumbai to see for themselves how working with the poor can achieve results."