It was a rainy evening many years ago and I was returning home from work – I met my roommate near my flat and we were walking home together – when we saw a couple of street kids shivering in the rain – oh, they did not seem to mind it one bit and were enjoying themselves playing in the rain – out of some misguided (?) sense of ‘wanting to do something’, my roomie and I decided to give the kids some of our old clothes. We took them into our room and chatted with the kids – and started handing out the clothes to them – and to our surprise, and then amusement, the kids began to choose and coordinate their outfits. By the end of it all, all of us were giggling and generally having a happy time. For many days after that, I felt about forty feet tall…
I remembered this incident when I was reading about this man in Delhi, Anshu Gupta whose organisation Goonj collects and distributes clothes – in what seems like a perfect demand-supply matched system.
I regularly have arguments with people who believe that individuals and micro level efforts cannot make any difference in the larger scheme of things – social problems. Many of us genuinely want to do something ‘good’ – either out of a genuine desire to make a difference or to fulfil some uncomfortable guilt pang that just will not go away… and often we shy away in the belief that a single contribution (financial or otherwise) cannot help in any way – but I say, a drop in the ocean is as good a beginning as any…
This is what the goonj website says – the man you find shivering and coughing at midnight on a road side, will not become rich with just a sweater or a blanket but will certainly be getting one of his fundamental rights – the right to live..
How can individuals like him not make a difference?
I urge you to read about his work here : A clothes-line from cities to the country.
Recently I tried donating almost 4 bags of old clothes. The agency promised to pick it up but failed to show up. I contacted them and they asked me to drop off the clothes at their office almost 20 miles away. Further they would need me to fill some paperwork that would take another 30-40 minutes. I didn’t do it!
I just hope that donating something doesn’t involve so much bureaucracy.
P, read the article fully – in this place, the idea is that the donor (donator?) also participates in some way in the process – as in, our duty is not over with donating clothes and sitting back feeling smug about our good deed…
but I agree, sometimes donating can be a troublesome thing – i often find myself with good things that i want to give away but don’t know how/where
Thanks for your kind comments about Goonj. I have been a part of them for the last 4 years. We do not ask you to do any paperwork when you donate anything and in Delhi specially we have collection centres all around town. We will take anything you do not want to use and will find someone who needs it and would welcome it. Please goo to our website and check out the names and addresses of all our collection centres orcall us and we shall tell you where to send it. We look forward to hearing from you.
Milly