On my third day in Mumbai I met Rehmat Shekh, a 28 year old woman who is HIV postive and battling TB for the first time in her life. When I walked into her home, a small 8×10 foot room that she shares with 3 family members, she was on the floor, her gaunt frame covered by a thin blanket. She is weak, unable to sit up for more than 10 minutes at a time, and usually needs an hour to get all of her pills down.
Rehmat lives in Rafik Nagar, a slum in eastern Mumbai. She shares the small room with her mother, husband and son; the family cooks and bathes in the room, and sleeps lined up in a row on the floor. There are no windows in the room, but a ceiling fan helps to combat the stifling heat. I had come to Mumbai to continue a photo project I am working on about TB across the globe.