5) Description of health product/service offering: In the land of scarce resources & many mouths to feed,buying a sanitary napkin or even getting new clean cloth for menses is the last thing on the mind of most village women.Many are forced to use even sand or ash as millions don’t even have enough cloth to cover themselves.Oblivious of the health risk most end up using the most useless & often dirty cloth which is often reused many times without proper washing or drying in the sunlight.It catches moisture & dirt leading to various life threatening infections & diseases.There are horrible cases from places like Shikohabad where a lady used a piece of blouse which had a hook inside & she died of tetanus,A lady in Tamilnadu died due to use of a cloth which had a centipede inside.In Dharavi slum(Mumbai),where people don’t have enough space to stretch out their body to sleep,women dry their cloth napkins behind the doors & remove it,even if its wet before the male members come.The shame associated with the issue makes it the most taboo subject even among women. Macro Health Problem:We talk endlessly about RCH,Safe motherhood but this issue having direct linkages with these problems hardly finds any mention.On a macro level many problems originate from this one issue-like absenteeism/drop-out of girls from rural schools on reaching the age of puberty,major health hazards/ infections having multi-fold consequences affecting the lives of children born/unborn.With one of the highest infant & maternal mortality rates,this issue definitely merits more attention. Product:GOONJ has initiated a very practical solution by developing a sanitary napkin out of waste/un-wearable/torn cotton cloth.These are washed,sanitized & put into packs of 10 with a leaflet giving information about the correct practices around washing,reuse,drying and other hygiene related issues.These are reaching the most marginalized communities through a well-established nationwide network.

6) Description of innovation: Goonj's innovative approach involves looking for a solution for village women's basic need by involving a broader & yet a similar target audience of urban women.For the first time,women in the cities are being involved directly in dealing with this critical issue of their not so fortunate counterparts.Among women, universally the empathy on this subject is instinctive.The problem of both the groups finds solutions by articulating their common status as women & advocating an ethical standpoint that every woman deserves the right to a basic dignity in those 5 days.Besides given the growing consumerism and shrinking spaces,the city women get to channelise their discard clothes in a constructive way with better awareness & empathy on an issue she closely identifies with.In one process a big health hazard faced by village women is addressed, & on the other hand an urban woman gets a chance to channelise her useless material as a resource for her less fortunate counterpart.More significantly a long lasting link between urban and rural women is developed.The strategy is a win win situation for all the stakeholders. Main emphasis is on making this an issue of discussion in every Indian house since there is a desperate need but affordable & environment friendly napkins are still out of the reach of a large population.GOONJ’s napkin is hand made out of un-wearable cloth using normal stitching machines. A very low cost,clean cloth napkin affordable to the poorest because of a very effective and participative production & distribution process.The product can be made by anyone, even the most illiterate person as it’s based on existing resources and it does not depend on technology.The entire cost is low because of easy availability of raw material and further cost-sharing by all the stakeholders including final beneficiary (in some cases) partner NGOs, urban women, transporters etc.

7) Operational model: In the cities we work towards sensitizing urban women on this issue.For most urban women the appalling conditions of village women & the big health risks involved are a big eye opener.They are motivated by the easily available solution their old cloth can offer.We organize collection drives in residential areas where our volunteers do door to door campaigning,we address the gatherings at women’s club, kitty party’s, social clubs & gatherings to sensitise them about this most neglected issue by giving closer- home examples of their own maids who can’t afford a sanitary napkin or are ignorant about this issue.Lack of awareness and resources forces them to remain in unhygienic conditions.Once we talk about this issue the urban women are shocked by the stark contrast in their lives and that of their maids.They also realise the direct impact this has on them since the maids work in urban households or take care of newborn babies.Urban women react not only by supporting our efforts but also by initiating discussions and finding solutions for their own maids.We also try and use the media to sensitise women about this critical issue. In the villages we are targeting grassroots level women’s SHGs for distribution & to generate awareness about the inherent health issues. The emphasis is on talking about this "never talked about" but basic issue & provide a better piece of cloth. What helps is that for the last 8 years Goonj has been running a nation wide movement channelising vital resources lying in excess in urban households to the poor in far flung rural areas.We have an extensive,well established network of over 100 agencies like SHGs, NGO’s, Panchayats, Indian army, Ashoka fellows/social activists and their huge & trusted networks in 16 states of India.Thus the network to reach the napkins to the most marginalised communities- women & girls in rural India in the most far-flung areas is very much in place.

8) Human resources: GOONJ is fully operational in Delhi,Mumbai & Chennai.40 people work on Tsunami clothing project in Chennai where 10 people are dedicated to the napkin work.In Delhi 4 people are working full time on this.Goonj works primarily through its volunteers with more than 300 volunteers from all walks of life including a number of doctors/Gynecologists from different hospitals.Once sensitized the urban women help us spread awareness in their own network.The campaign thus has a multiplier effect.Our women workers who make the napkins, coming from the same economic background give many suggestions making it more effective and relevant.NGO partners,women from SHGs,Doctor volunteers,a vast majority of middle class urban women who have used cloth in their initial days,make an informal but a very important & practical team guiding this project.Our women workers finalised the size, thickness and other aspects of the product.In the villages we are taking the help of women’s SHGs to initiate a dialogue with women about this taboo subject and are getting feedback about its effectiveness.

9) Key operational partnerships: GOONJ has a strong relationship with a lot of corporates,Resident associations,Schools,Colleges & Ladies Clubs due to its Vastradaan & S2S programme. To reach the beneficiaries GOONJ has a strong network of over 100 voluntary organisations,SHGs,Panchayats,activists,Ashoka fellows in 16 Indian states. Transporters provide subsidized transportation. Our urban & rural partners are crucial as they are the link to our target audiences.Local NGOs, SHGs help us in distribution & feedback & act as the last link in the chain.Identification of partners is an important step to ensure the delivery of the message and the product in the right way & in the right environment.We have a performance monitoring system for our rural partners and a regular & strong feedback system to ensure better communication.An important development has shaped up in Chennai, where GOONJ signed an MOU with the state government to turn a colossal wastage of over 2 million clothes donation rejected after Tsunami into a resource for the poor.40 women of low-income group work daily to sort, repair, recycle and pack material. Machines are already installed & we have the capacity for turning large quantity of un-wearable cloth into lakhs of sanitary napkins.The Taminadu Govt. has requested us to teach their district level master trainers for further replication among thousands of people to make this product cost effective & easily available.

10) Financial Sustainability

          • Fees charged to clients?: Yes

          • How do you assure affordability?: Partner groups are provided the napkins at a marginal cost of Rs 3 to 5 for a pack of 10.It has loops,cord to hold the napkin & a pictorial literature about proper reuse & drying. All the stakeholders share the cost.Local agencies charge as per the local economic conditions.Some communities who can’t even afford are given the product free.We are working on a sponsorship plan where urban women while buying expensive napkins for themselves can sponsor couple of these packs for their village counterparts.Taking a cue from our cloth for work programme where clothes are given as a compensation instead of money to the beneficiaries who work on their own village development activity,we are applying the same model here.

          • Earned incomes as a percentage of operating costs: 30

          • Other funding sources: Since we are reusing the completely un-wearable cloth the chances of short supply of basic raw material are minimised.Spread of our nationwide movement VASTRADAAN means increase in inflow of cloth/ free raw material.It is sustainable because of cost sharing & doesn’t need heavy investments.Volumes will further reduce the cost.The main expenses are only on manpower/logistics,which is partially covered by the marginal price & individual donations.Many women groups have come forward to support.Right now transportation is also partially free & we are talking to corporates for sponsorship of washing machines,detergent,anti infection solutions etc

          • Strategy for long-term sustainability: Sponsorships of different activities in the entire process,sponsorship by urban women,production at village level to reduce the cost & put the money back to increase purchasing power of women,asking partner groups to allocate budget for this basic health need in their health related work are some of the steps we are taking to make future of this initiative smoother.Another initiative is the concept of asking every urban women to give 2 meter cloth for her village counterpart.Every month during her menses urban woman will now be thinking of a village woman who does not have this-so donation of 2 meter cloth is picking up-which means another source of raw material and a reason for more volumes..

11) Current and Future Impact

          • Total number of clients: 3000

          • Clients in the past year: 3000

          • Percentage of low-income clients: 95

          • Impact: The initiative is in its scale up stage & we have been able to sensitise a large number of people & organizations.The first barrier has been crossed as the beneficiary women have started talking about the practices,problems & related health aspects.That is a big victory since women don’t usually talk even among themselves about this taboo subject.On the other hand with our awareness campaign more & more urban women are volunteering,spreading the word or regularly giving us material.A lot of urban women who have at some stage in their lives used cloth, hear about the dismal state of affairs of women in the villages and relate easily to the problems and risks. In the development sector also this issue is slowly getting noticed.

          • Overall "market": Now at scale up stage we have all the systems in place to create massive awareness among the urban masses on this issue through our huge network of partner groups. Almost all the groups working with us across the country have shown keen interest in the product.We are already testing it at many places as per specific needs since there is a large chunk of ladies who can’t even afford a panty, for them we have developed a different kind of napkin with a loop and string. Keeping in view the huge population we reach through our other initiatives we are concentrating on certain areas in a phased manner. As this is a consumable product we want to ensure a strong supply chain before adding new beneficiaries in the chain. We are trying to reach production of 2 lakh units this year in some parts of the country directly. We will reach many more people through training the beneficiary village groups where the ideas can be replicated and we support them with raw material.Many Ashoka fellows & agencies from other countries have also shown keen interest in replicating this.

12) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Scaling Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: This year over 2 lakh women will be benefiting from using this napkin.Regular supply chain,many dispatches in the pipeline, strong network of agencies to reach beneficiaries,tsunami wastage to take care of raw material in the initial phase are some of the strong points to help us in expansion.We are involving all the network partners one by one to reach maximum number of people in the remotest areas. We are putting into place tie-ups with women SHGs for stitching etc. so that it generates employment in the villages & the cost further comes down. In Nepal we are all set to launch this initiative along with VASTRADAAN & organisations from some other countries are also in touch with us. In 3 years the target is to touch production of over 5 lakh units every year directly & spread awareness & education in villages for many fold for more local production. The stress is also on sensitising people so that whatever cloth they use at-least now onwards they use that properly.As per plans we’ll grow from 3 metros (right now) to operations in 10 big cities of India in the coming 3 years

13) Policy change: The main policy change needed to accelerate social changes would be for the policy makers to understand & acknowledge the importance of this basic need & the role it plays in the a women’s reproductive health, for her children and her entire family. The government given its vast health budget allocation can work with us in highlighting this issue among the common man so that no one thinks of this as ‘just a women’s problem’ in those 5-6 days.The development sector also must take this as a serious issue and must allocate some resources for this while working for communities. We have a number of examples where the NGOs were involved in making SHGs, in organizing health camps for women and children, in distribution of condom or telling people about birth control but they had never talked about this basic issue

14) Origin of the initiative: GOONJ’s prime focus is on channelising resources from the cities to the villages by emphasizing the importance of cloth as a basic need.It highlights an aspect of cloth that most people including women haven’t paid much attention to.It has shown that even a useless cloth piece can make a big difference.This initiative is spearheaded by GOONJ’s founder Anshu Gupta & is an outcome of his travels in the interiors of India & extensive interaction with village women.In trying to understand the role of cloth in their lives,he found the level of awareness & understanding about the health risks quite dismal on this taboo subject.Anshu,an Ashoka Fellow,a masters in mass comm & economics,left a corporate job to start GOONJ 8 years ago.With a lot of development stories to his credit,he is the brain behind GOONJ’s initiatives Vastradaan & SCHOOL to SCHOOL etc

Contact Information:
Anshu K.  Gupta
Ashoka Fellow
Founder Director
GOONJ
(NGO)
J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-76
India
Tel: 91-11-26972351, 9868146978
Fax: 91-11-26972351
Email: anshu_goonj1@yahoo.co.in
Website: www.goonj.info