The tour changed me so much. It really opened my eyes. I teach a course on South Asian women writers, and I talk about authors and film directors who’ve made films about the slums in Mumbai or the red light district there. Going to see that had a profound impression on me. To hear the women there tell their stories, firsthand. It was so sad to hear how they’ve lost their womanhood; they’ve lost their lives. But there’s hope, too. They are fighting for a better life, and there are groups like the Among Women tours going and learning from and about these women, learning how to help. That’s what I’m bringing back to my classrooms. The hope. You can read about women in these slums, in the red light district, about how they’ve lost their identity, but to go and see how people are changing and the hope and the smiles that exist, it’s really reassuring. You see the worst, but also the best.