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TSUNAMI - SURPLUS CLOTHING ISSUE
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BACKGROUND -
The entire world donated for Tsunami but we also saw numerous
pictures of clothes scattered on the roads. Media gave negative
reports and like many previous disasters it became a big problem
for the agencies and people working in that area.
The
fact is that clothes are the easiest and the most commonly
donated material at the time of any disaster. In the last
few years of our work on making clothing a matter of concern,
we came across many examples when people said they had plenty
of clothes to give cause there hadn’t been a disaster
recently.
But the ignored aspect of donating cloth is the big mismatch
in donations and needs, a fact well illustrated after Tsunami
in Tamilnadu. A large quantity of woolens, coats, western
out fits, oversized clothing, expensive imported blankets,
ladies suits, old and torn undergarments–clothes either
unusable or inappropriate given the weather and culture, were
donated. This highlights issues of mis-match in terms of urban
v/s rural attires, insensitivity, lack of awareness and callous
attitude towards the dignity of victims.
For various reasons these clothes may not have been accepted
in Tamilnadu but it’s still a very valuable resource
for lakhs of Indians in the remote parts of other states where
the weather and the attire habits match this material lying
till now as wastage. Even in Tamilnadu, if these clothes are
given after an appropriate need analysis and with dignity
to the people in the affected areas, our experience shows
that they are widely accepted.
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THE TASK -
Lakhs of unused donated clothes are lying in the Chennai Government
go downs. In a series of talks with the officials of Disaster
Relief wings of Tamilnadu Government, Goonj proposed to channelise
this cloth to the needy across the country. Given Goonj’s
track record and credibility in the successful use of cloth
as a resource, the proposal has been accepted. .
Now we have a massive task ahead of us - to sort out every
single piece of cloth based on the needs of people in various
states and then to transport it to those areas. On June 2nd,
20 people started this massive task and we are now looking
for more volunteers and financial support from people and
organisation to do this work at the earliest so that the material
reaches to people instead of lying in the godowns
This
will probably be the first of its kind work at such a massive
scale where a complete wastage after a disaster will be turned
into a resource for the poor.
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| STRENGTH -
- Expertise and experience
in handling old clothes. Every month we dispatch over 6000
kgs of material to the remote villages of many states.
- A well defined, trusted
network of over 100 grass root NGOs, Ashoka Fellows, Social
activist and Panchayts in 13 states to take care of the distribution.
- Strong monitoring
and feedback system to ensure effective distribution of material
- Support of AWWA (Indian
Army) to channelise and provide material in the inaccessible
areas across the country.
- Strong distribution
system in Kashmir, Uttaranchal and various tribal belts to
fulfill the needs of woolens.
- Tie up with two Ashoka
Fellows Mr. P. Muthu and R. Elango in Tamilnadu apart from
many other Ashoka fellows in other states to monitor and support
the entire effort.
- We are known for our
low cost and participatory operations. We insist on utilisation
of every single old material, involve volunteers and beneficiary
villagers instead of depending solely on paid people
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BENEFITS
DIRECT-
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Utilisation of useful material lying as wastage
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Benefit to lakhs of people in the remote villages and slums
of India.
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Employment generation for the villagers in Tamil Nadu.
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Providing material for schools where thousands will benefit
from sitting mats , bags, school uniforms etc.
INDIRECT -
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Will set a precedent all over the world towards taking care
of disaster wastages.
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The exercise will make urban people more aware of what to
give and what not to give as we’ll be talking about
this issue on various forums. This will improve the quality
of donation in future disaster.
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WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CLOTH -
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The sorted cloth will be divided into usable and un-usable
category. On the basis of need assessment the usable cloth
will be sent to parts of Tamil Nadu affected by Tsunami. Some
of this cloth, especially woolens will be sent to places like
Uttranchal, Kashmir etc where it’s relevant to the needs.
Under our Rahat Floods campaign for floods related preparedness,
a lot of this cloth will be sent to Assam, West Bengal, Bihar
which face the annual disaster of floods due to the monsoons.
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The unusable cloth will be converted into sitting mats for
the village/ slum schools, bags & sanitary napkins for
poor women who cannot even afford a piece of clean cloth during
their periods.
WHAT HELPS -
- Our
talks with AWWA (Army Women's Welfare Association) has made
GOONJ’s entry possible
in many more inaccessible parts of India through the Indian
Army- extending a relationship begun two years ago with joint
work in Jammu and Kashmir.
- GOONJ.. is in the
process of developing a very low cost sanitary napkin out
of used cloth. This is primarily an effort to provide an alternative
to other more expensive or unhygienic options. For this, we
immediately need large quantity of old/new cotton bed sheets
& soft cotton clothes and we are hopeful to get a plenty
out of this lot.
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Immediate requirements -
Financial support, Volunteers & packing material
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