A 1 hour session was organized in office...n Im still thanking my stars that I made it a point to attend the session...
Anshu started Goonj in Delhi nearly 10 years ago. He was working as a journalist and once when he was in search of a story...he came across a cycle rickshaw...which had the words"Delhi Police ke liye laash utane wallah" printed behind....
After a chat with the rickshaw-driver..he gotto know that he worked for the Delhi Police...to dispose the many dead homeless and famililess destitutes who died on the streets uncared for...
Anshu was told that business was excellent during winter simply coz the number of people dying from the cold... due to lack of warm clothing was extremely high!!
The laash utane walla's job involved picking up the dead from places identified for him by the police....dressing up the dead and waiting for the crematoriums to open...
His 5 year old daughter told Anshu that whenever she feels cold at night...she hugs the dead bodies tight and sleeps ...as they keep her warm...n wudnt turn or complain or hurt her...
Anshu took the example of the earthquakes in Kashmir and reminded us that yes...ppal do require warm clothing in times of disaster....and also during winters before n after the disasters...just to prevent any further deaths!!
He tells us that we wait for disasters to happen..to donate clothes...
He asked us if you cud believe that ppal actually turn bonded labourers to buy clothes. My immediate response was a NO.
But then he told us another story to prove his point....
Picture this...a remote village in MP...where ppal get employed for 10 days a month...getting paid Rs.6 per day...their monthly income being Rs.60/- which will have to cover food, shelter and clothing requirements for families with a minimum of 6-7 people. The only time they ever invest in clothes...is when it is festival time....n the local merchants there...have an offer where in for Rs.250/-...they get clothes for all the family members ...n everytime they went in for this luxury called "clothes" ..it meant that they had to work as bonded labourers for a minimum period of 3 years till they repaid...
The next incident almost got me to faint....this was regarding the cloth requirements that women in rural India have during their periods...We were told that having no other choice...the women often reused ...shared ...or sometimes...during the monsoons...used wet ones....simply coz they cudnt afford anything better....leading to several infections....
How does Goonj make the difference...
Goonj believes in the 3 D's in life: Dignity, Discard and Disaster..
Goonj has made its presence felt in most parts of the country...but they dont just distribute clothes freely...they ensure that people getting them earn them...
Goonj gets the local villagers dig a well or build bamboo bridges or build schools or get the villagers to do works for the common good of the villages. The wells help them sort their water problems....the bridges reduced the number of accidents small school going children faced...n the schools ....well...v r told were the only buildings that survived even the earthquakes....
He told us that when their team visited the flooded Bihar areas...or the Sunderbans after Aiyla....the situation is the same....ppal in need of food, clothing n shelter.....food and shelter is somehow accounted for ..but the clothing part gets missed out!!
He told us that very often the clothes we donate are the ones that we have had enough of....but when we give them away...do we take care...of small little things....like the absence of buttons....or imagine a person sitting in a remote village...who gets to wear a chudidhar set for the very 1st time in her life...getting the pyjamas without nadas....n wondering what to do with them....Goonj is filling the gaps at present by having their volunteers do the required tailoring...n the sorting of clothes as per gender...n region...
To know more about Goonj: http://www.goonj.info/collection.php
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/video/newsvideo.php?autono=413112&part=1&con=prev
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/video/newsvideo.php?autono=413112&part=1&con=prev
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/video/newsvideo.php?autono=413112&part=2&con=next
http://business.outlookindia.com/newolb/article.aspx?261417
http://business.outlookindia.com/newolb/article.aspx?261417
Or you can read an interesting posting at http://alternativeperspective.blogspot.com/2008/01/making-difference-not-just-piece-of.html
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