Useless rag to you could mean dignity for a woman

By Ranjana Narayan Mar 11, 2007, 16:42 GMT

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) Don't throw away your torn cotton shirt or sari. Cut into strips, washed and ironed, it can provide women in disaster-hit zones or those living in poverty with the precious clean pieces of cloth they need to tide over those five crucial days of the month.

Goonj, a Delhi-based NGO, a year ago launched this very thoughtful method of helping deprived women with clean strips of cotton cloth during their monthly menstrual cycle.

Anshu K. Gupta, founder-director of Goonj, said they collect old clothes from people and convert it into useful articles for use. While the usable articles of clothing are repaired, washed and ironed again to be distributed, it is the clothes that are really worn out that are used to make sanitary napkins.

And for women in rural hinterlands who have been using scraps of dirty rag and even un-absorbent synthetic material as sanitary napkins, the gesture by Goonj has come as a godsend.

According to Yasmin Khan, a full-time worker with Goonj, the first time they approach women in villages with clean sanitary napkins, the women react shyly.

'But soon afterwards, they warm up and start participating in discussions on how to maintain hygiene during those five days. Once the girls and women start using the clean, absorbent sanitary napkins that we provide, they don't want to use dirty rags any more.'

Relating horror stories on the unhygienic padding many women in rural areas and in slums use, Yasmin said in one instance a woman who had just given birth tore up a blanket to use the cotton stuffing. The blanket was full of insects and the woman had to be hospitalised with severe infection. In another instance, a woman got tetanus and died after infection from a rusted hook on a blouse she had used.

'We provide clean hygienic pieces of cloth, and also stitch strings on them for better use. Since it is a taboo subject for women, they prefer not to talk about it and use any dirty rag available, which leads to infections and rashes,' Anshu Gupta told IANS.

Goonj, which celebrated eight years of its existence last month, approaches women in villages through the grassroots NGO already working in the area. Once they distribute the sanitary napkins, they educate them on better hygiene and how to wash the cloth pieces for re-use.

'Since the demand for such pieces of cloth is high and the supply not enough, combined with our financial constraints, we have started teaching the women how to wash the cloth strips well and dry it for re-use,' said Yasmin. Goonj has now started buying second hand bed sheets to keep up with the high demand to create more sanitary napkins, she said.

Yasmin has visited Ferozabad in Uttar Pradesh and Sitamarhi in Bihar for distributing sanitary napkins along with other items that the NGO churns out, like bags, mats, utensils and notebooks.

An old torn jean trouser can be turned into a good denim bag, synthetic saris and shirts can be stitched together to make good durries and mats for school children and old copy books are taken apart and the unused pages sewn together as new books.

'We don't just work in times of disaster,' said Anshu Gupta. 'Clothing has been a primary issue for us. In February and March we send messages to people to give us the woollens they won't be using next year. This helps us collect the woollen articles we need ahead of winter, so that we can wash and repair it before distribution.'

In the winter months, the NGO distributed woollen blankets to poor people and relatives of poor patients sleeping outside hospitals like Safdarjung and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Goonj is now looking to pick up the old school books that students will discard before the new academic year. 'The books that 2,000 students from one public school discard can help provide books for around 10 rural schools,' said Gupta.

The NGO is ready to take anything that you don't want - from old clothes, books and utensils to even computers.

So, next time don't call the kabariwallah (scrap dealer), just log on to www.goonj.info for information on its next collection date and centre, and maybe you could help bring a smile on someone's face.

(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at ranjana.n@ians.in)

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service