Education
Education is the foundation upon which every individual builds up his right. In spite of that, hundreds and millions of Indian children still do not get the chance to receive quality education because of many skin-deep reasons. Education and literature did push the people, and it is where the NGOs will lead the community in this endeavour.
Health
Health Equity amongst the urban poor can be a powerful agent of change. Similar to health being critical to a child’s development, health equity is an indispensable milestone of a community’s development. This can be achieved by strengthening the community’s capacity to access public health services while working with public health systems to provide quality services and by changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.
Livelihood
Apart from working on critical issues of hardcore rural development works, disaster relief and rehabilitation and channelizing urban underutilized materials, large numbers of people are directly connected in implementing those works through various processes. Green by Goonj is a brand built around reusing and up-cycling even the last shreds of material that Gram Samaj. A range of over 100 different products like purses, fancy bags, file folder, mats etc. made out of torn jeans, obsolete audio tapes, one side used paper etc. shows the ingenuity, craftsmanship and design aesthetics of women from nearby slums involved in making these products..They also serve as a means of livelihood to thousands of women who make them and make livelihood revival initiative for others.
Environment
One of the key impacts of our work is on environment – conserving it, reviving it and prevention of natural resources from degradation. Through efficient repurposing, reusing and recycling, it has wide ranging impact on circular economic model.
Water
We believe that water has a direct connect with poverty and well being of rural communities. That’s why our growing work in water stressed rural areas is focused on improving their access to water for agriculture and livestock. We are targeting localized solutions by reviving already present water bodies like ponds, lakes, check dams etc. We mobilize rural communities to find their own sustainable solutions using local resources and indigenous knowledge. Cleaning water bodies, directing their constructing new water access points and increasing water tables through rain water harvesting activities are some ideas that have emerged locally.
Emergency Relief
Gram Samaj has been working on varied disasters from earthquakes to Tsunami, cyclones, floods, etc. Rahat as an initiative has evolved into an active, reliable and time-tested network of stakeholders in both rural & urban India ensuring our timely response for generating need based disaster relief & rehabilitation efforts. We educate common masses about sensitivities of giving, creating a culture of mindful giving. Goonj also strives to bring attention to preventable disasters like winter to reduce deaths and suffering in this season primarily due to non-availability of clothing.
