At 7am in the morning the ladies who work on the streets in Bangalore have been up for hours and working hard. These are not those sort of workers, but the women who usually work 7 days a week, literally sweeping the streets, collecting and sorting rubbish, removing cow poo and collecting fallen branches to use as kindling.
I was advised to pay the lady who collected my rubbish and swept outside my house 100 rupees a month (about $2). Of course I gave her more, and then most of the clothes my kids had grown out of and toys they no longer wanted. Anything that could be reused I would separate from the garbage so she could take it without having to clean it up first. I will remember her beautiful smile, and how when I saw her at the local shops and she would blush and giggle in front of her family when I would say hello.