Echoing change

For us,it’s a piece of cloth,for them,it’s a catalyst for change. Winner of the ‘Indian NGO of the Year’ award,Goonj has made clothing a matter of concern. Its founder-director,Anshu Gupta,believes clothing is an important issue and a subject to work on.

Started in 1998 with 67 pieces of cloth,Goonj now has a strong force of over 300 volunteers and circulates 40,000 kgs of material every month to the underprivileged. “Through Vastrasamman,our nationwide resource-mobilizing initiative,we provide clothes and other basic amenities to millions of people in far-flung areas,’’ says Daljeet Kaur,who set up a counter at The Indian Express office in Chandigarh on the occasion of Independence Day,to collect waste products which will then be recycled for use. Kaur,who started the Goonj Jalandhar centre,says: “Countless people across the world suffer due to lack of warm clothing in winter. So,it’s not just an issue at the time of disasters.”

Goonj has collection centres all over India where people can donate their clothes,toys,books and stationery. The volunteers then take this material to various processing centres from where the clothes are distributed for use in a number of initiatives — Cloth for Work,Vastrasamman,School to School,Not Just A Piece of Cloth,Rahat and Recycling.

Bags,mats,folders,writing pads,notebooks,mobile covers and cards are made out of used paper,cloth pieces and audio tapes. These are up for sale and the proceeds are used to help the needy. Using the model of development resource,people work for the betterment of their own villages — building roads,schools,desilting wells,and in return,get clothes. Visit http://www.goonj.info to see some realities.