Goonj Material Kits – Our Extra Stuff And Solving World's Biggest Problems

Every one of us has had a weekend when we tried to take out our unused stuff and the emotions and memories around our possessions overwhelmed us. In those moments all the wisdom of the world, "we should own the stuff, the stuff should not own us" or "value people, not material objects" rings true, but for someone else. Here's a story of Goonj Material Kits that started when a young couple in a small flat in Delhi took out their unused 67 clothes.

In the last two decades, this story has reached thousands of India's urban surplus material, turning into a new currency for development. Goonj has used this material to build a strong relationship of empathy and respect between common citizens in cities to common citizens in villages, highlighting how cities and villages are interconnected. We thus nudge you to think of your material beyond charity, as a new resource to mobilize and motivate civic participation in rural India. The Goonj material Kit is at the heart of this story.

Every year we make thousands of Goonj material kits, valuing and respecting the emotions, memories and hard-earned money that people put into these things. The people who receive your material bring more value to it by extending its life. As they work hard in their own communities and receive this material as a reward; their contribution to the world, their emotions and dignity, make it whole.

Our Founder Anshu Gupta often says, "Poverty is an ongoing disaster in the lives of people. Let's not wait for a disaster to stand with people." Imagine not having these basics of living; a sanitary pad for your periods or shoes for going to school or a saree/suit for your dignity or woollens for surviving winter. That's 'Material Poverty'; an unmapped aspect of poverty still.. Goonj uses your material to fulfil another unmet need of millions of people - their need for being valued and treated with dignity in the world. It's a basic universal need just like cloth, food and shelter, but is often neglected even when people's material needs are met.

Next time when you contribute to Goonj, we urge you to visit a nearby Processing Center (if you haven't already) to see how we turn your material into different material Kits; matching it to people's needs in different parts of India, ensuring they receive the best that's to offer, to respect their dignity.

Neetu Devi joined Goonj's Delhi Processing Center way back in 2009. Today she works in our Cloth Pads making unit. About her journey she says, "My husband refused to support the education of my three daughters. I got to know about Goonj from a woman who lives nearby and joined it. Today, I am the first woman in my family to go out and work and can proudly say my work brings dignity to so many other fellow women across India. With the support of everyone at Goonj, my children are growing and studying very well now."

Multi-faceted Impact of these Kits

Since 2015-2022, just in 7 years, Goonj channelised up to 2,000,000 Family Kits across India. Goonj teams, (together with our rural partner organisations) mobilise and motivate rural communities, to put in their own efforts and skills to solve their own challenges. When people come together to address a local issue, they are rewarded for their efforts, with different kits. These efforts led rewarding, not only helps to dignify people beyond the inequalities and power dynamics in their own communities, this also helps reposition your material beyond charity, for development. The biggest benefit to the communities is the building of their community assets; making/repairing/reviving bridges, roads, water bodies, sanitation, school infrastructure, post-disaster repair and rehabilitation.

For a family receiving these kits the biggest impact is on its material poverty, freeing up its scarce money for other urgent needs. The community benefits in a big way as it learns to self-mobilise, to solve its own problems, valuing its own wisdom and efforts. For us, the biggest joy is seeing a community come into its own, "The most beautiful feeling is when a child gets a surprise in the kit. Imagine the happiness the child gets when the kit is opened and right there is a toy for him/her! We try to add something for each member of the family because each of them is seen and is very important." says Imran, a senior Goonj team member.

Extending the Circularity Principals To Solve SDG's

Hope this story of Goonj Kits gives you a sneak peek into how we use the world's so-called "waste", giving birth to barter between two new alternate currencies for development – your under-utilised material and rural wisdom and labour, to achieve at-scale development and impact. It's regenerating the well-being of our cities, villages and the environment.

Unlike the traditional circular model, every day we find new ways for the excess of the world to be used to address poverty, inequality and climate change, the biggest challenges facing humanity today.

That's why taking out your stuff over the weekend and contributing it to Goonj, matters.

Dignity For Work (DFW)/Family Kits, School to School (S2S) kits, Teacher kit, Anganwadi Kit, Hygiene kit, Toiletry kit, Dignity/ MY Pad kit, Dance drama Kit, First Aid kit, Sports kit, Art and Craft kit, New Born Baby Kit, Tent house kit, Marriage kit, Toilet kit, Volunteer kit, Office kit, Institution kit, Rahat Relief Material.

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