Goonj Fellowship – Grassroots

Arvind and Anjali Agarwal  

Two of the oldest volunteers, they have been a part of Goonj’s journey for the last 17 years. Having organized more than 40 collection camps, their camps stand out for the efforts they make and the massive collections they make, and have created their own network of volunteers. Arvind shares, “Simplicity at its best is synonymous of Goonj. It’s a rare organization, which uses old resources in an innovative and effective manner. Goonj gives individuals receipts using recycled paper!”

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.

1. It was during one of the camp in Dehradun when we came across a family who touched us completely. We were in the middle of the camp when a young girl of around 13-14 years of age came to ask about this camp. When we told her about the collection of old clothes and other unused household material she was immensely thrilled and was excited to contribute. She at once went to her house and came with few gunny bags full of clothes. Then again she went inside and came with few more bags and this time her elderly aged, physically challenged parents accompanied her.  They were carrying heavy gunny bags on their shoulders but their enthusiasm to contribute was remarkable. Our team helped them carrying more bags from their house. On asking the girl what does her father do, she told us that her father works as a peon. She was an ambitious girl who wanted to support her parents in later stages of her life and our team wished her all the best for her future.
2. One day a volunteer called up at our office and told us that she wants to contribute her Gullak collection to Goonj. We invited her to our office but since she was not keeping well she insisted if we can collect the Gullak from her home. We assured her that whenever we are coming for some visit to school or college nearby her home we would collect it from her. After few days we had to visit some school which was near to her place so we called her up and fixed a time to meet her. After reaching her house, we were warmly welcomed. She told us that Goonj is so close to her heart and then she came out with a glass jar which was covered with GOONJ KI GULLAK Cover and handed over the heavy jar to us. While giving that jar to us she was deeply touched and we could see her emotions through her eyes. She further told us that its not just Goonj ki Gullak,  its more than this to her. She said,”Jab bhi meri koi mannat puri hoti hai to main Goonj ki gullak mein mannat ke paise daalti hu,isliye yeh mere dil ke bahot kareeb hai aur ismein meri puri hui khwaishein hain”. We wanted to click her photograph but she refused to do so as she did not want to reveal her identity.We gave her new GOONJ KI GULLAK to fulfil her more dreams. 

Nikita, a Goonj Fellow, depicts her experience of JGW where she observed different emotions and perspectives of people sharing or contributing their possession to the society’s good.

One of such touching stories is of a little girl of 3 years who got all her savings in a box and contributed it to the donation box. This incident took place at a camp in preschool called Toddler’s Den in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad on 21st of October, 2022 where Nikita went for a JGW camp. Every little kid was dressed up in ethnic wear as the school was celebrating diwali and they made sure to inculcate the cultural practices of Diwali, be it rangoli making, or lightning diyas. The school comprises kids from a year old to 5 years. The teachers introduced Goonj to the kids and their parents and called us for a camp on the day of  Diwali celebration.The children came up with struggling hands full of toys and clothes to give in the camp with their parents. They also put monetary contributions in the box by themselves. Overall the school did a valuable lesson of sharing and doing good for the society. Talking to the teachers, it was evident that they do practice such habits among children during classes too and because of that, the kids turned up to give their contributions with smiling faces. Seeing the little girl do that, another boy turned up doing the same. He got money from his mother and sat next to the girl and then both started putting their contributions in the donation box. It was a beautiful moment, as Nikita explains and she believes that these forms of initiatives must be taken up in the urban spaces for children so that they understand the value of what they have and also the needs of those who don’t have.

What started as a personal journey in 2015 to  dispose a few bag of clothes in an optimal manner, my google search led to Goonj. However As the Vashi dropping centre got closed, I called up at the Goonj Mumbai office to know about how to conduct a public collection drive.

Since then, every 26th January we’ve been regularly conducting collection drives in the locality and kind of  becoming a festive ritual and people are expecting us to be there. 

In the journey came across many volunteers, who help us to catalyse and get connected with many housing societies and companies where we could organize collection drives.

Also conducted a few walkathons amongst the volunteers of Goonj to spread awareness in the public and along the way wherever we found  opportunities to exhibit Goonj As an organisation like every year in Navi Mumabi and Thane  Happy Streets, Goonj is able to interact with lots of citizens on a Sunday morning.

All the while, got to learn a lot about social work, the kind of impact Goonj’s initiatives is making and the various issues and challenges in the social sector.

Goonj team is always eager to engage with volunteers, is open to their ideas and willing to do new experiments in the social lab.

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

• Our two-phased Selection Process:
• Each prospective applicant has to answer the question mentioned in the above form. Some questions will be in a form of a video.
• For the second round, selected applicants will be invited to an informal meeting at our Regional Office. If one can’t make it for some reason we can connect on a video or a phone call.

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)

• Our three-phased selection Process:
• Fill the internship application form. You will be asked to answer 3 key questions. (P.S: Copy-pasted text is easy to recognize.)
• After we receive your application, we will share a list of The Goonj team will share Shortlisted applicants will be invited to visit Goonj’s processing centre and have a brief interaction with the team.
• People selected in the second round will be asked to share a task and an action plan to take up during your internship.

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 🙂