GOONJ: Using Waste of Urban

Monika Dutt 

 We constantly harp on the need of the poor for Roti, Kapada Aur Makan. Yet in all welfare schemes for the poor and deprived the Kapada gets left out. It is only during calamities and natural and manmade disasters that the importance of Kapada takes an upward leap. Even then, most efforts at distributing clothes and other household material have been usually small, sporadic, one-time deeds where there is indiscriminate collection of material and random distribution. Though these mostly happen at the time of disasters the reality is that half the country does not need a disaster to be helped with proper clothing. Clothing as a basic need isn’t acknowledged as an issue at any forum. Anshu Gupta, a journalist turned social worker, has made the provision of Kapada for the poor and the needy the mission of his life. In 1998 he set up Goonj an organisation which has effectively used the wastage of urban India in different ways to promote development activities in rural India. The foundations of the organisation were possibly laid during his years as a journalist. Anshu recently told a meeting the story of a poor rickshaw puller in Old Delhi who made a living picking up unclaimed bodies from the streets of the old city and cremating them. Most of them were poor and neglected dying of hunger and the weather. He recalled the remark of the old man “Sir my business picks up in the winter months since most poor died due to cold because of insufficient clothing. ”A more telling remark came from the rickshaw puller’s small daughter who said “When it is very cold at night I sleep with a dead body.” In the past ten years Goonj has successfully transformed cloth giving from a charitable act into a development activity with its ‘Cloth for Work’ programme. Its village level grassroots partners identify activities like road building, cleanliness drive, etc., where the beneficiaries work towards the betterment of their own area and get clothes as remuneration for their work. The Goonj solution lies in positively addressing the often discussed reality of India, the rising disparity between rich and poor and how this is a problem that is only going to get worse. It is using clothing as an entry point into urban India, under-going a massive con-sumer boom and facing the equally acute space constraint problem. The organ-isation has created an effective distribution channel for shifting surplus reusable resources lying idle in urban, well-off house­holds, to the far flung poverty-stricken rural areas. This not only helps to make a difference in the lives of those who lack the basic resources needed for survival but also brings about a change in the mind-set of the urban population about the optimal utilisation of vital resources through recycling and reuse. During the last decade Goonj has successfully connected the cities to the villages. In the cities the network involves the people, business houses, schools, resident welfare associations, ladies groups. In the villages the network includes NGOs, panchayats, Ashoka fellows and even units of the Indian army. In normal conditions, this channel is used to provide basic material to people in the far flung areas of the country. During disasters, it helps channelise relief material much faster and as per specific geographical and cultural needs. The same network is used to reach school supplies to rural schools as well as sanitary napkins made out of waste cloth to village women. The organisation presently transports over 20,000 kg of materials reaching out to 19 states of India through over 100 grassroots level partner groups. With offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Jalandhar, it works with about 2,00,000 direct beneficiaries every year among the most marginalised communities like the Moosahari tribe in Bihar, child labourers in Ferozabad (Uttar Pradesh), quarry workers in Tamil Nadu, prawn farming communities in the Sunderbans (West Bengal) and tribal people. ‘Vastradaan’ - the nationwide campaign is geared toward redistribution of clothes collected from urban households to the rural areas and the urban poor. Collected materials are sourced out and sent according to the needs of the beneficiaries. This is done by working with local grassroots organisations operating in rural areas. The Cloth for Work programme partners with local NGOs to identify local issues, where rural communities invest labour and time to work on their own civic infrastructure (roads, schools, health centres) in return for clothing. This programme not only adds an important aspect of dignity for the receiver, it also turns old cloth into a valuable resource. For example, Bihar’s most backward 100 villages are utilising material to address key development issues. School-to-school (S2S) campaign with over 50 prestigious schools across various cities, connects children from different worlds (urban-rural) and builds bridges between them. Through unused materials sourced from urban schools, the S2S programme reaches to a rural child providing general clothing as well as uniform, school bag, stationery, etc., at around Rs 100 (inclusive of collection, communication, storage, salaries and transportation cost). The S2S programme has been designed to ensure an ongoing, high quality supply chain of materials that has benefited hundreds of school children in rural Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kashmir. The emphasis is on developing a relationship between them. Every year these kids and teachers meet at one place in a unique event Pratibimb, organised by Goonj. The most important programme launched by the organisation, which brings dignity, health and hygiene to the rural women is the distr-ibution of sanitary napkins. Sensitising and initiating a dialogue on the most taboo subject of menses. It has taken up the production and distribution of sanitary napkins among thousands of margin-alised women to whom the lack of access to clean cloth can lead to great health hazards. ‘Not just a piece of cloth- clean cloth sanitary napkins for village women’ campaign is a classic example of sourcing material as a resource from the masses. Using old cloth as a resource to address an important yet taboo basic need of the village and slum women. In the process Goonj is focusing on a critical gap in women’s health. The campaign is an entry point into the lives of village women, to generate more awareness on related health and hygiene issues. The use of cloth-a material most village women are comfortable and familiar with - coupled with the reuse pos­sibilities makes it a viable option. According to Anshu the sanitary napkin programme was started after reports poured into his office about the problems women in the rural areas were facing. He said one report revealed that a woman in one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh had died after her menstrual cycle. After a probe it was found that she had used an old blouse which had a rusted hook. In one of the states in the South a woman had died after he was bitten by a centipede which had taken refuge in the cloth she was using as a sanitary pad. The organisation believes in generating material and resources through the masses. Innovative solutions for sustenance and growth, a strong feedback system and transparent operations helped Goonj achieve public participation on both counts. Creative resource mobilisation has help the organisation implement and scale up its work and also effectively involve the community in its work. According to Anshu “Goonj has traditionally depends upon the people as its main source of material, finances and more importantly their time. Nothing by way of material goes to waste. Rags, scraps, torn clothes and waste paper are made into bags, rugs, folders and note books and sold at strategic locations to the urban clientele which not only raises funds but also helps spread the message to the customers.” Goonj has pioneered a robust reuse model for all manner of things The model is a win-win situation for all the stakeholders involved. It establishes linkages between different segments of society especially between the urban affluent and the rural poor. The grassroots organisations often connect this initiative to the overall development activities of the villages. Looking ahead Anshu says “Some of our immediate targets include completely clothing 100 most back­ward villages every year and initiating a number of small but important development activities in these villages through the cloth-for-work campaign. Goonj will replicate its model in 10 new districts every year under its district approach. We plan to establish our own setups like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in 12 cities in total. “The cities are short-listed, keeping in view the nationwide spread so that activities can be covered region wise. These city chapters will work as regional headquarters to link up with organisations working in smaller towns in the implementation network. This will not only result into a multiple growth but also help to reduce the logistical cost significantly, increase transparency in the system with much more acceptance of material.” Organisations in many other countries are showing keen interest in replicating the Goonj model. A good start has been made in Nepal According to Anshu “As a basic theory, Goonj focuses more on the growth of the idea instead of the organisation alone. This ensures that more and more people and organisations start taking up the cause. We are in the process of developing a blueprint of their work so that sharing and implementation becomes cosier, scientific and more effective.