Goonj: The Echoes of Joy
“It’s not only about what you give, it’s more about what people need.”
-GOONJ
GOONJ is an NGO working towards the betterment of the underprivileged people, just like other NGOs, but what’s so different about them? Well, loads of things are unique about them and that’s what I’m going to tell you through this writeup.
They have taken several steps to channelize urban underutilization as a catalyst to propel rural development. The materials are provided with dignity to the communities in parts of 27 states and UTs of India. They are the new and real superheroes of this society.
Their concept of using discarded and underutilized household items and using that as a propellant to bring about community development is a unique concept. Goonj also works towards recycling unusable materials and thereby helps in extending the life of the material — Circular Economy in action!
The founder, Anshu Gupta popularly known as The Clothing Man, started this organization back in 1999 and in 2015 he was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for his contributions to the society. The core philosophy of Goonj is that materials are not distributed free of cost as charity. The community members come together and decide which activity they want to take up. It could be building a bridge or cleaning a pond or any other activity that the community wants to take up. Once the activity is completed, each of the households who participated get a kit which has all the household items (sorted and processed) contributed in urban areas
One of the best steps taken by them is related to a very taboo thing in our country. Menstruation and the hygiene related to it are rarely discussed and if they are discussed, the discussion turns awkward.
GOONJ tried to help and improve the situation in the rural areas by reusing cotton clothes. They are sanitized properly and then cotton cloth pads called “My Pads” are made which are environmentally friendly. It’s honestly very impressive and I personally really appreciate it.
Overall, GOONJ has provided joy to thousands of people and it’s admirable because using underutilized urban resources, innovative community development activities have been taken up, thus addressing needs of communities and creating joy and happiness even a million claps of gratitude would not be enough.
-by Shikha Shah
Ekta Desai’s Knowledge Seekers
Tenth Grade
Contact Details- 9376252130
#ngos #ahmedabad #goonj