New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) For 45-year-old Kashmiri filmmaker Ajaz Rashid, who was among hundreds displaced in the September 2014 torrential rains and floods in the Valley, the disaster was literally a life-changing experience that prompted him to leave his profession and become a full time social worker - all thanks to Delhi-based NGO Goonj.
"I was moved by the devastation around me and wanted to help others but didn't know how to go about it. That's when I came in contact with Goonj ( which literally means echo) and the experience changed my life forever," Rashid told IANS on the sidelines of an event to celebrate the NGO's 16th anniversary here.
The former filmmaker joined Goonj fulltime and is at present working towards improving the health and education facilities in Kashmir.
"My focus will be on these two issues for the next couple of years," said Rashid.
Across the country, there are examples galore of individuals who have ditched their careers and jobs just to help the underprivileged in society and the one factor that's common to all is their association with Goonj - the NGO that came into existence in 1999 with the idea of converting discarded urban waste into a resource of rural development.
The NGO, which began with just 67 pieces of clothes collected by founder members - Anshu Gupta and his wife Meenakshi - today has 11 offices in 21 states and 300 employees across India. It annually transfers over 1,000 tonnes of used clothes, household goods and other essential items from cities to villages.
Goonj has launched a number of initiatives over the years and one of the most popular is the 'Cloth for Work' wherein people living in rural areas are encouraged to undertake community service like digging wells and making roads and bridges, among others, in return for not money but clothes.
"It's sad that clothing is not a subject in the development sector like food and shelter. With this initiative, we want people to work in return for clothes," Meenakshi Gupta told IANS.
Only washed and clean clothes, woolens, blankets, footwear and the like are given to people without compromising their dignity.
The model that has helped set up schools, water-tanks, roads, bridges et al in several villages all over India came as a blessing for 48-year-old Utara Pardar, a resident of Mandla village in Madhya Pradesh, who wanted to teach poor children in her village.
A teacher by profession, Pardar had managed to get a piece of land from the authorities in the village but had no money or resources to build a school. That's when Goonj came to her rescue.
"They sent a truck full of clothes and many locals came forward to construct the building," Pardar told IANS, adding that the school has so far taught hundreds of local children since it was set up in 2008.
A mother of two daughters and a son, Pardar is supported by her children and husband in the social work she does back home and claims to be an "inspiration for women" in her state.
While Goonj encourages people to donate clothes that are clean and in one piece, Gupta admits that a lot of dresses or fabrics are soiled and torn.
However, the NGO has found an innovative way to also deal with this.
The torn clothes or shreds are used to make clutch bags, handbags, mobile pouches, pen stands and even sanitary napkins at their Sarita Vihar workshop in south Delhi that employs around 40 people.
The products are sold either online or through the NGO's offices.
In fact, making affordable sanitary napkins under the 'Not Just a Piece of Cloth' campaign is one of the pet projects of Anshu Gupta, who observed that in villages and slums, women and girls have poor menstrual hygiene.
"In these areas, women use dirty pieces of rags because of lack of clothes and awareness. Our mission is to reach out to maximum number of women and distribute hygienic pads made from clean cotton clothes," said Gupta, who has featured among Asia's top 10 social entrepreneurs, adding that over three million of such 'My Pads' have been made and distributed in the last few years.
While Meenakshi Gupta acknowledged that the donations and contributions from people and corporates are rising "exponentially", her husband has sought even greater support from the people for the growing NGO.
"From funds to land, we need anything and everything to cater to the maximum people," he said.
(Rahul Vaishanvi can be contacted at rahul.v@ians.in)
IMF estimates: India's growth rate will be double that of China despite the slowdown, lowering the global growth rate estimate
After the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also reduced India's growth forecast for the year 2022. In the report released by the IMF on Tuesday, India's economy has been projected
Crude bomb attack on TV channel in Chennai
Chennai, March 12 (IANS) Two tiffin-box crude bombs were hurled at the office of Tamil news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai on Thursday morning. The bombs exploded with a loud noise, but no one was
PAK vs NZ 1s T20: Haris Rauf stunned Kiwi batsmen, Pakistan won the first T20 match by 88 runs
PAK vs NZ 1st T20. The first match of the five-match T20 series between Pakistan and New Zealand was played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 14 April. In this match, the host team Pakistan defeated
Repo Rate: 68,625 crore burden on MSME and retail customers due to increase in repo rate by 2.25%
An SBI report states that 47 percent of the total borrowers in the country are linked to the loan external benchmark (EBR). This simply means that with the increase in the rate of RBI, their interest
Monetary Policy: In RBI's monetary policy review meeting today, the repo rate may increase for the fourth time
The three-day meeting of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy review is starting today. It is expected that the central bank may increase the repo rate by 0.50 percent on 30 September. If
IND vs AUS: India lost the fourth consecutive Test under Rohit's captaincy, from Gavaskar to Shastri these legends lashed out
India suffered a crushing defeat under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. Under his leadership, Team India lost the fourth consecutive match. Earlier, India defeated Australia by 295 runs in the Perth
Iran's nuclear scientist 'killed with remote-control gun', what Israel says
Iran believes that Israel and an exiled opposition group used a remote-controlled weapon to kill its top nuclear scientist Mohsin Fakhrizadeh on Friday.
Festival Sale: This great phone from Redmi is getting cheap on Amazon, it is competing with
The cycle of e-commerce platforms SAIL continues continuously before Diwali. You can shop for this festival at a cheap price here. In the ongoing Great Indian Festival Sale on Amazon, many things are
Lawrence Bishnoi: 'Any policeman who encounters Lawrence Bishnoi will be punished...', Karni Sena openly declares
The name of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi is constantly in the headlines. He has been in the news since the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui and the threat to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
Weather Update: Fog affected 20 states including Delhi, trains and flights were affected; Today the rain will increase and the cold will increase
More than half of the country has not got a respite from the severe cold and dense fog. There was dense fog in the morning in 20 states and union territories including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh to
