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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An innovative idea born out of need. Sujni is the traditional cloth quilt of rural India layered with tattered and shredded pieces of clothes stitched together. It’s used as a quilt in winters and as a mattress in summers. Worldwide disaster wastage is a common phenomenon resulting from a mismatch between what is given and what is needed or due to insensitivities in giving.
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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.
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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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Read More >An 11-year-old girl from Srimitra Solitaire Apartment in Kasanavahalli, where the collection drive and gullak-making session were held, not only participated in the gullak-making session but also assisted her friends and other participants by sharing the extra materials she had brought. She was extremely helpful and enthusiastic in sharing the idea of making gullak more creative.
She made three gullaks out of various sets of materials she had gathered. The first gullak she made was from the hard box cover of Horlicks, the second from an old tin jar, and the third from the potli she had brought. During the interaction with her, she emphasized that gullak is a reminder that we must give back to the world in order to make it a better place. The session like gullak making clearly made Goonj’s continuous effort and vision to make the world a better place to live into a pragmatic sphere.
Toward the end of the session, the children created the innovative gullak with the intention of saving money and contributing it to a good cause.
On the same lines of the Dalai Lama, who says that our prime purpose in life is to help others, we wish to highlight the story of a selfless volunteer whose persistent help is reaching the needy through Goonj.
Dipanjana ji has been associated with the Kolkata team for the past 3 years. In the early days, she used to send material to the office and for the past year she has been actively involved with Goonj in various ways. Previously, she has participated in offline crowdfunding during the Nepal earthquake and cyclone Amphan, where she had collected a good amount and contributed to Goonj. Her affinity to be of help didn’t stop there, she now voluntarily keeps aside some amount every month to help Goonj in some way possible and has opened her place to be one of Goonj Kolkata’s dropping centers.
She has had a zero-waste outlook in life, from the time she used to shift places and had to make the most of every resource around her, to now when she is making use of every possible piece of material in her capacity to repurpose it into wearable clothes for Goonj. Her flare to carve sculptures out of unused wood has translated into upcycling clothes for the needy.
She recently procured bulk material and worked upon how to get it stitched and mended. A lot of ideations went into making the best use of them. Some ways she adopted to repurpose different pieces of clothes include making tops and petticoats out of oversized pants, transforming swimwear into a set of top and bottom wear, made tops out of cushion covers and covered some unwanted spots and faults using her unique ideas. Her outlook was to make clothing that the communities in need can utilize. Later, finely ironed and folded pairs of cloth in bulk were dropped at Goonj. It’s unlike her, she says, to give away something that is not in proper condition and it not just aligns with the outlook of Goonj but highlights that dignity is deserved by all.
It is always possible to be kind and Dipanjana ji is a living embodiment of it. She came down to the office and interacted with all the processing unit workers, showed them how she looked at different material, taught some tips and tricks to upcycle so that they could also implement it by themselves. The interaction was loved by processing center workers and she left them with many insights, a fresh spirit and in awe of her work.
Her approach echoes, ‘I want to teach someone, learn something, help somehow’. She draws satisfaction from helping the society, as much as she can in her capacity. Goonj is ever happy to be the platform for her kind gestures of selflessness, towards making society a better place. It is not often that we come across volunteers like Dipanjana ji and when we do, it feels imperative to highlight such stories to inspire the generosity in mankind.
A Public collection camp is conducted in the Besant Nagar by the volunteer Mr. Aravind Srinivasan in his home. Once the Goonj team member reached there to co-ordinate with collection drive, he welcomes the person with water and breakfast. The hospitality was very nice. He arranged the tables, chairs, etc which are needed to start the camp. Once, all are set, he shared the information in a WhatsApp group. All the contributors started coming to the drive and dropped the material. He came forward and explained to the contributors about the process in the processing unit and also about the initiatives of Goonj. The contributors who are not aware of the location, he shared the map and also guided them to reach to the drive while going to some walkable distance. This was a great and tremendous support from him. When handed over the souvenir to him, he politely refused stating to give to the contributors. After successful completion of the drive, he requested a person from his neighbour to load the material in the vehicle. Not only he supported in loading the material, her daughter also supported in loading the materials in the vehicle. The volunteer is soft hearted, down to earth person.
The internship’s purpose is to inculcate leadership qualities in high school students, give them a platform to explore the professional sphere and increase school engagement. High school (Grades 9 to 12) is the time when students participate in extracurricular activities to develop and discover career prospects. This experience will act as a driving force towards learning while enjoying and spending time mindfully.
Number of hours- 15 hours Per Week
Students will be tasked with making the people around them aware of Goonj and its various initiatives. They will also encourage them to recycle, up cycle and contribute underutilised goods to Goonj so that they can be reused. The students will additionally be engaged in observing and learning what happens behind the scenes. If there are any specific skill sets you have, please inform us beforehand.
In the end, what you learn from your stay at Goonj is up to you 🙂
The internship’s purpose is to make college students as well as other graduates from various fields strong willed, goal-oriented individuals while also presenting them with a career path. Interning at Goonj is an opportunity to have fun while creating change. We aim at opening a vault of fresh and new ideas and suggestions which can be taken up by the young changemakers.
Number of hours- 150 hours (1 month)
For a wilful, multi-lingual and inquisitive person, the sky is the limit. Here at Goonj you will be tasked with various activities and opportunities which will take you on a whirlwind of self-discovery while having tons of fun. During your internship you get to organize and be a part of various awareness initiatives organized by Goonj. If there are any specific skill sets which you have, please inform us so we can proceed in that direction.
There is no good or bad time to apply but make sure that you are available to dedicate a month fully for the social internship.
In the end, what you learn from your stay at Goonj is up to you 🙂
