Dear Friends,
First a very big warm Hello to all of you and best Season Greetings!! Christmas is around the corner; the spirit and cheer of giving is in the air!! Everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I have been missing for some time. Now that I am back 😊 ..I would like to dedicate my next few articles on people and organizations who restore the faith in Humanity!! Yes, it’s my way of giving back to people…I am just too small to throw light on these great human beings. I have also touched base with few of these great people and therefore trying to contribute to the noble cause by writing about it. I am helping in my own small way. Hope these articles help each one of you to connect and contribute in your own way!!
Part 1
“Being human is given, but keeping our humanity is a choice ”!
Goonj – A voice, An effort…!!!
Goonj is a non- governmental organization headquartered in Delhi India. The organization undertakes disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development in parts of 22 states across India. Goonj is the first to highlight clothing as a basic but unaddressed need which deserves a place within the development agenda.
Goonj is turning the discarded and under-utilized materials of cities into tool to address ignored basic needs and development issues of rural India. Goonj’s work is not about collecting and distributing materials but changing the age-old tradition of giving old material as charity and repositioning it into regular and dignified giving. This NGO was founded in 1999 by Anshu Gupta. He has received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2015 for his work with Goonj. He was named India’s Social Entrepreneur of the year 2012 Schwab Foundation a sister organization of the World Economic Forum. Goonj work over the past 18 years has evolved a parallel economy which is not cash based but trash based. Urban material is emerging as a parallel currency which is not only addressing basic needs but also having a macro impact on curbing migration, improving sanitation and health and enhancing economic activities. Goonj has over the years turned massive disaster wastage into resource for development work; right from Gujarat Earthquake to Tsunami, Bihar Floods (2008), Andhra Floods, Uttarakhand Floods, J&K Floods and Chennai Floods more recently.
Projects under the Goonj umbrella:
- Cloth for work: This is a unique programme where Goonj works with partners and communities to identify infrastructural improvements that need to be taken up in villages. Villagers then work in helping in cleaning ponds, building roads and other developmental tasks for the villages and in return are compensated with material resources like clothing, utensils, furniture and food grains. This gives them a sense of pride as well …like a reward for their hard word. Rather than just charity.
- Not Just a piece of cloth: In 2004, Goonj started considering women sanitation and health. They started provided basic requirements at affordable prices to rural women who neglected or were ignorant of their critical health requirements. This created a sense of dignity and self-respect among rural women.
- School to School: The program uses a unique school kit designed by Goonj to promote participation of children. Goonj visits urban schools and collects old supplies of books, stationary, bags and uniforms and these are properly recycled at the Goonj centres and a new school kit is created for the small villages, children in the rural areas and these kits are distributed or awarded to children through Goonj centres while engaging them in various activities. This is a wonderful initiative!
- Other campaigns are Flood relief/ Rahat Floods where in supplies are collected pan India and then relief provided to flood affected areas.
- Please find more details via their website/ page : https://www.facebook.com/goonj.org
I have briefly highlighted the splendid work undertaken by Goonj. Hope it will steer the emotion of humanity in each one of you. I will leave you with a very profound quote of Mahatma Gandhi – ” You should not lose faith in Humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. ”
Humanity is my religion!!!!!
Thank you,
Smile always – 😊 Molly!!