Livelihood

The nationwide lockdown meant loss of business and livelihood with a long-term impact on daily wage workers and people in the unorganized sectors. Sustainable livelihood options became the need of the hour, and to cater to this need and keeping in mind the safety demands of the day, Goonj and M&S initiated the production of cloth masks at Goonj Processing Units.

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The village of Gharbhanga Jenasahi in Kendrapara district of Odisha recently saw how the joint efforts of the resident families towards community cleaning and livelihood projects could bring about a stable livelihood option to the locals. Villagers have been facing severe water-related problems and with no source of income, young boys are forced to search for a livelihood elsewhere.

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Periyar Valley, located in the Idukki district of Kerala, is a region surrounded by hills and the Periyar river. It was here that one of our team members happened to come across Aneesh Krishnan, Sudheesh V Suresh, Sebastian Babu and Jishnu Murali, a group of youngsters whose work came to a standstill with the lockdown.

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In an attempt to address the problems associated with forced migration and to create livelihood opportunities, Goonj along with its partner organization, developed a sustainable and profitable model of Community Farming to help the local communities of Beed (Maharashtra) under Goonj’s ‘Vaapsi’ (Livelihood) initiative to support around 160 individuals with seeds and farming materials apart from backing them in procuring 15 acres of land on lease and in contributing towards the first year’s rent.

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The waste cloth generated from the cities is channelised to some villages where women are learning stitching on sewing machines at a GOONJ training center. Apart from employment and income, the work helps to channelise vast quantities of waste and un-wearable cloth. In West Bengal women and young girls are also creating beautiful dresses out of the over sized clothes and cloth pieces that we receive.

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Goonj salutes the sheer grit, passion and commitment of the few in Goonj, who have come out of their disability and made a space for themselves.

Pass a beggar on the road and one often hears “kuch kaam kyu nahi karte?”(why don’t you do some work?) routinely hurled at them. Ever wondered where do these people come from – unlettered, unskilled and devoid of any resources? Someone probably left home after floods hit his village or water scarcity killed his dreams of a good crop or the lack of resources drove his family occupation to closure.

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