For God sake dont let this anger die ..

Dt.- 12th December'08
Dear Friends,
We are smart, impulsive, self-centered people .. What a way to describe ourselves .. but if we see the reaction to Mumbai terror and a series of sms and mails going around, we don't look like this .. we seem to be very responsible citizens, fighting every moment for our rights and committed for a change .. Criticising every single person in the government & the system ..

After a few days - a new cricket series will change the priorities for the media, the newspapers will come out with half page luring and attractive advertisements for Christmas and New Year eve celebrations.
When our children will get a winter break and we'll start exploring the best deals for Manali & Shimla and we'll be worried again for our performance in our respective offices ..

But what about the quintals of wax we burnt to show our solidarity, the disgust, the call for change, millions of sms of hatred against the political system which made the mobile companies a few crore richer or the series of endless chain mails of saluting jawans and throwing bricks on politicians and systems ..

And what about intellectuals who suggested boycott of polls and the system, as a solution to get rid of these dirty politicians .. I salute these intellectuals; what a suggestion.. Don't fight- run away .. go and have a picnic but don't vote .. ESCAPE .. since every single person you vote for does not deserve it .. Let's create a vacuum ..

Let the country be governed by the people from their drawing rooms or coffee homes ..

I often feel why do we always need a disaster to wake up, that too for a few days? Why don't we understand that there are certain disasters, which remain with us, which have become a part of our life

BUT we don't want to work on those since we are too comfortable in our cocoon ..

We would probably send a hate mail to anyone who said we are the most self-centered people on this earth. When we find our house full of mosquitoes we bring a good night, if that doesn't work, we bring a spray, BUT when the municipality guy comes and fines us Rs.500/- for leaving some water in our cooler, in the name of breeding mosquito- do we ever question them on the drains maintained by them, with millions of mosquitoes ..

If you want water you buy a bottle or a cane, if you want in bulk you fix up an expensive RO system. Ironically the government sells its own brand of packaged water .. Have we ever questioned - why is the tap water not drinkable? The water bill doesn't say - bill for washing and bathing water, so why should we pay separately for drinking water?



Good for us since we can afford all this .. I guess one of the reasons we the rich, the middle class dont fight all these things is because we have no moral right since we are the ones responsible for many of these evils. How many poor people kill each other in over speeding cars? How many poor people have the confidence to jump red lights and break traffic rules since bribing a traffic cop Rs 100/-
is the easy way out? How many poor people do you see standing in the middle of the road and throwing tantrums, blocking the traffic if another car make a small scratch on their vehicle and how many have motorbikes to overtake from the left at high speed???

For most of us showing concern about the country and its people means sending a chain mail of a well designed power-point, giving some ugly details or sending a series of smsand we the responsible citizens adhere to our responsibility by sending it further and further. For GOD's sake please remember mere thoughts are not enough for this country to change .. What we need is an action .. an initiative .. means you need to add an action to a thought .. There is no dearth of
people who have opinions, thoughts, and suggestions but how many of us take an initiative to do something on the field? How many of us are ready to act ..

Why do we need an incident or a drama to react? When the media shows dramatic pictures of a child drowning in a manhole, our highly responsible media and new breed of breaking news journalists break the news and all of us are ready to help .. but what about thousands of unnoticed open gutters across the country and scores of people falling in them .. a father throws his child in the river due to poverty and you get a new national news- but what about millions of
children dying or deserted in similar conditions? How many of us know that 62 children of Korku tribe in just one block of Khandwa district in MP recently died of malnutrition .. due to lack of a few kgs of basic food material .. and what have we done ..

How many of us are raising a voice against the callous and highly unprofessional attitude of most of the electronic media, where a 20 years old so called journalist with no background knowledge shows you the live commentary of Mumbai attacks with most important- first ever visuals of blood soaked faces of dead terrorists & mutilated bodies. I remember in my mass communication days there was a chapter on ethics in journalism and we often used to hate the preaching but to score marks we had to read .. and these days when most selections are based on one's acting abilities and voice quality instead of your journalistic knowledge, who thinks of ethics? But, have we ever told the channel guys that we'll boycott your channel if you keep
showing these dirty, misleading, dangerous and often fake stories?

Why dont we put pressure on the authorities to cut the electricity to hundreds of offices and houses of big people for not paying their electricity bills for years.. When the same authorities fine us for a delay of two days .. Why dont we ask the municipality the reason behind breaking the same footpath or road ten times in a year and rebuilding .. what about the police stations across the country where we feel scared, to go and file a report? Why are we not raising the issue of police reforms and forcing our police to pay attention to the safety and security of people rather than hounding trucks for the extra bribe money ..

Its time to get up, wake up .. and change the way we do some things in our own lives. If you disagree with me on some points don't waste your energy in replying back or sending a chain mail .. work on the points you do agree on .. It's time to take a positive action. We can't spend time in criticizing the system, the bureaucracy, the administration and so on ..

We all know the realities and we also know that the people behind these failures are enjoying themselves. They know us well, they know how good we are in criticizing them from a distance. They also know that we are busy people, we are too involved in our personal lives, office etc. Top of all they know that we are impulsive and highly self centered people .. If we are able to develop our own comfort zone, we will not confront with them for the life of others ..

I somehow see the biggest fault in ourselves, in the masses, in the so called middle/upper literate class .. We are not angry enough and even if we are, we dont express it at the right place ..

In every field we need reforms .. even if we forget about the theme of India as a developed nation or a shining vision of 2020 .. first lets make it a normal nation where children stop dying due to lack of 100 grams of rice, where people are not forced to eat rats due to poverty, where a lady does not sell herself for 10/-, where countless people don't suffer due to lack of a piece of second hand cloth, where children don't have to walk 5 kms to school, with no notebook or pencil. Where a women does not become a bonded labor for a saree, or a lady does not die due to non availability of a clean piece of cloth to use as a sanitary napkin, where a family get at least a few litre of drinking water a day or where we have the basic medical facility so that people stop suffering due to non availability of basic medicines like Crocin ..

And believe me there are good hopes and chances rather a surety that all this can be changed .. We all have a series of success stories to follow- we all know a number of people who have taken initiatives and have changed the lives of millions. We are also familiar and were there, standing with the families of Nitish Katara, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Jessica Lall. Many of you were writing, walking and protesting in the heat, lighting candles, putting pressures on the authorities and the system and we all saw the results .. It was our collective power that worked ..

This is the time to do it all over again, the task is much bigger and the path is too long .. this time our target is not a spoiled child of a politician or a senior officer or a few terrorists who take us for ransom, this time we are talking about changing the system, the machinery, the way we all work and think.

And to start with, people like you and I need to start understanding our own power- the power to change. The value of our voice- the voice to scream on injustice, the responsibilities of a citizen- not just to live for self but to let people around also live ..

Its time to start using some of our unwritten fundamental rights-to get angry, to question, to raise a voice, to ask and match it with a fundamental duty: To ACT ..

With hopes & lot of confidence in us !!!

Anshu
--------------------------------
Regarding Bihar/ Orissa Campaigns and need of woolens/blankets This is also the time for us to send you another update on our Bihar & Orissa flood relief campaigns .. I sat down to write a note on the report only but somehow I couldnt stop myself from expressing my feelings on whats happening around us. The campaigns are progressing well with your support. GOONJ has come up as one of the largest agencies working in these areas. A large number of corporates,
institutions and individuals have supported our campaign and we are committed to be there till Dec 2009 at least. An updated report with relevant figures, photographs, acknowledgements, work so far and plans for futures will be up on www.goonj.info by 1st week of January
2009. We'll be sending you a link and an alert for the same ..

WHAT WE URGENTLY NEED; is alarge quantity of cotton cloth (for making sanitary napkins) and woolens & Blankets for our annual campaign RAHAT WINTERS. This year the need is much bigger as lakhs of people in Bihar and Orissa are added to the already huge targets of various other states.

So get back to us if you want to organize awareness cum collection camp on this or if you want to contribute. Goes without saying- please spread the message .. all of us have a lot in our cupboards ..

Remember, winters are a much bigger and reoccurring disaster than earthquake or floods- if you have nothing to cover yourself ..
Please listen to this audio interview on Indianngos.com on Bihar floods-http://lists.goonj.info/listman/lt.php?id=N0UCAlpUBQNJUARIAAYGVFQ%3D

Anshu Gupta (Ashoka Fellow)
Founder Director
GOONJ..
Tel:- 011- 26972351, 9868146978
Add- J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-76
Website:- www.goonj.info
--

A message from the field & Highlights of Bihar Flood relief campaign

Dear friends,

Kindly take this mail as a token of appreciation for the overwhelming
support people

It's been more than a month that I've been traveling in the remote
affected areas, have given to GOONJ's 'RAHAT FLOODS' campaign in
Bihar.with the help of boats, motorcycles or tractors. I can only
tell you this is something unimaginable. It's probably not right to
call what's happened in Bihar, as floods. It's basically a large
scale displacement where hundreds of villages now fall in the new
path of the Kosi river. It's not like normal floods where the excess
water of the river creates problems rather it's a disaster where
hundreds of villages, thousands of houses are submerged in water and
thousands of people and cattle have lost their lives. The scale, the
suffering and the kind of devastation is mind boggling; even after a
month, thousands are still stuck inside villages still submerged in
water.

Imagine if Ganga stops flowing through Varanasi and changes its
course to flow through Lucknow&what will happen to the land and the
people of this new route???

I have to confess that even after witnessing and working in many
disasters since 1991 I've never seen such scale, such tough terrain
to work in. There is a sea of suffering with no end to the tunnel
because these are not just victims of this disaster but most have
been victims of extreme poverty for the last many decades&

The reality is that for many months the situation will remain grim. A
state which hardly had electricity or pakka houses in the villages, a
state which is a synonym of bad governance and minimal
infrastructure, where in many parts women barely manage with a torn
saree, where millions have not seen a doctor in their entire life; in
short even before this disaster, life for many was already much below
the normal living standard. Now there are over 20 lakh people
homeless, on the roads, with the cloth on their back as their only
possession.

GOONJ is not a big or international agency, it's a small bunch of
dedicated souls & a large number of dedicated volunteers, working
24x7 to do our best.. The way people took up our campaign and trusted
our work has been heartening and extremely touching. We don't believe
in putting up big banners and working on the easily available
aspects/areas. In Bihar also people/organizations know us for our
focus on reaching places where no one has reached so far.

My appeal to you right now is to keep your patience with us; whether
it's getting your receipts or getting acknowledgements for material
given. Be assured that with our limited resources we are on the job&
We assure you that every single person/organization will get a due
acknowledgement/credit/receipt. I do appreciate the corporate houses
that have done tremendous proactive work to support our relief
campaign. Many organizations have even motivated their employees to
give one day's salary to GOONJ. Thanks for all your sincere efforts;
we assure you that every bit of your trust, material and money will
reach the deserving people.

But I would certainly like to send out a word to a few CSR people who
call up our office and ask questions like- "how far is Kosi river from
Saharsa" and if they don't get the exact no of kilometers they
threaten to report my colleagues to me. Or the wife of a CMD of a
public sector company who gave us some ration and clothes at a
function with a lot of fanfare; three cameras, a speech delivered
thrice to get the right flavor; resulting in wastage of precious time
of a GOONJ team member. Or arguments on why a truck can't be unloaded
at 2.00 am in the night? Please do understand that our team is
working round the clock under tremendous pressure and with very
limited resources. They are also human beings and without any logical
reasoning it's not right to make uncalled demands on them. (The truck
would anyway be allowed to move out in the morning only). A person
from a reputed organization told us that they would give us their
contribution at a special function organized for the purpose, for
which someone from GOONJ would need to be present. When we said that
we didn't have an office in that city the person wanted someone to
travel out or else threatened to give the money to some other NGO. My
humble submission to such demands; kindly go ahead& My humble appeal
is not to use this as the only opportunity to show how concerned we
are. Good work always shows and one doesn't need banners all around
for that. The need of the hour is to spend our time and resources in
the most effective manner.

We anyway never force you to give us everything and we certainly
don't see a disaster as an opportunity for raising money for GOONJ?

Besides, money alone can't solve this problem. We need people on the
ground to do something..

Many people have asked us for volunteer need in this campaign. Right
now is the time for you to visit our stores to see the work and to
help in sorting etc or visit the affected areas to take part first
hand in the distribution and see how this operates.. The fact is 5000
kgs of rice may be a big quantity here in the city but when we give it
in the affected areas; this is just a one-day meal for 10,000 people.
Now imagine, we are talking about millions and their survival for a
few months.

This is just the beginning- a possible outbreak of an epidemic and
the approaching winters are going to be much bigger disaster in this
region.. And even when the media attention over GOONJ will
continuremain in Bihar for a few months.

We have already initiated an additional campaign for the flood
affected regions in Orissa and the demand might grow further& We have
already sent 5 trucks of material to Orissa and many more will go.

Keep a track of us therefore and do continue your support&

Do refer www.goonj.info <http://www.goonj.info/>
for first person reports from me and my colleagues and to know more
about our ongoing activities & plans. Please also refer- Our relief
work pictures <http://www.goonj.info/Finalbiharfloodpic08.php>

With best

Anshu

----------------------------

RAHAT FLOODS BY GOONJ: Highlights

GOONJ is running one of its biggest relief campaigns in Bihar right
now; in terms of network, area covered, material & ration generated
and distributed...

Scale of our work-

Geography

� GOONJ is working extensively across many flood- affected parts of
Bihar. Widespread work is going on in the worst affected 5 districts
of Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura, Purnia & Khagaria.

Our city patrons/partners

� Over 200 corporates, institutions, schools and hundreds of
volunteers from across India and abroad have been a part of this
campaign. GOONJ mobilizing 30 to 40 trucks of specific material from
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahemdabad, Bhopal, Nagpur, Hyderabad,
Amravati, Bangalore & many other cities.

� The material includes tones of dry ration, clothing, thousands of
new sarees, utensils, tents, milk powder, torches, buckets, blankets,
mats etc. More material is still being dispatched from collection
centers in different cities.

Implementation on the ground

� GOONJ has mobilized its network with over 18 grassroots partner
organizations/Panchayats/activists in Bihar with focus on reaching
the completely cut off villages on a large scale.

� So far GOONJ has reached over 30 completely cut off villages using,
boats, tractors, motorcycles, bicycles or even by walking on foot.
Over one lakh kgs of food grains have already reached about 8000
families in these villages.

� A GOONJ packet is approximately 12 kgs, aimed at providing eatables
to a family, for at least a week. To fill up gaps in relief material
we are also giving a cooking vessel, a bucket, a glass and a plate
with the same after assessing the needs in the villages.

� Distribution is taking place on the basis of a coupon issued by us
after a proper survey and listing. The data base generated from this
exercise will be used for the next phase of relief material;
primarily clothing & woolens. This database will also be useful in
our future interventions in these areas.

� Apart from supporting a kitchen in 3 camps for the first 15 days
GOONJ is now focusing on filling up gaps in relief efforts in terms
of ration, tarpaulin and other material in different areas.

� On September 7th GOONJ started first of its kind medical aid at
Sukhasan village, about 15 km deep into the flooded area. Instead of
waiting for people in the area to come out to the relief camps, this
timely medical attention proved critical in saving lives.
Furthermore, a new boat has been given to the village and the doctor
is traveling to different waterlogged areas, in a 2 kms range. This
new experiment has been able to support over 1000 patients. It has
also helped in preventing forced evacuation due to illness apart from
taking care of pregnancy and acute diarrhea cases in the village
itself. Even after 5 weeks the village is still in a few feet
water...

� Apart from supporting various organizations with material for their
medical vans/ambulances, we are also supporting doctors in the relief
camps with medical supplies. GOONJ's cloth sanitary napkin (under its
initiative 'Not just a piece of cloth') is addressing a very widely
needed and ignored requirement. We are tapping different health
camps, vans and the women health worker network in the area to reach
deep inside the villages. GOONJ ladies undergarments are also being
given as an integral part of the napkin programme.

Mid & Long term plans- Apart from a large scale relief operation
GOONJ has launched 3 long term initiatives in the area-

Initiative VAAPSI: aims at bringing people back to their livelihood.
An initiative finding a high level of acceptance among the flood
victims, it focuses on generating large scale self employment in the
area.

GOONJ children's' activity centers: Aiming at one of the worst hit
groups i.e. children, GOONJ has initiated the concept of creating a
center for them - to play, read, learn and enjoy in various camps and
villages. One such center is already operational on Beldor Nehar,
(with SSVK, in a relief camp area in Madhepura). Another one is
coming up in Pratapganj block, one of the worst affected areas of
Supaul. Many more are in the pipeline across the region. GOONJ is
providing tents, mats, clothes, toys, clothes slates & stationery etc
for these centers.

'WARMTH' campaign is aimed at dealing with the upcoming severe
winters in the region. As part of this initiative GOONJ has
conceptualized a family kit consisting of blankets, mats and woolens
for the entire family.

Long-term approach: GOONJ is working through its immediate and mid
term plans and has clearly defined long term plans in the flood
affected areas (which spreads till March next year) with a cushion of
extending it further, if needed.

So far GOONJ has emerged as one of the biggest agencies working in
the flood affected areas, on the long term. More than a month down
the line, as the media attention is fading; many organizations/people
are winding up their support work. GOONJ will continue its work here
till March 2009, primarily keeping in view the winters; a disaster
which is just round the corner.

GOONJ has established linkages with volunteers from many cities as
well as from within the affected villages and other grassroots
organizations. They are working closely with us on information and
coordination support. The packing of material has been decentralized
at hubs in Triveniganj and Purnia apart from our base office and camp
in Saharsa.

Breaking the Myth; Clothing is in excess in Bihar

As always the reality is very different & as always clothing is
still an ignored issue. The reality is, Clothing is needed on a big
scale as over 20 lakh people don't even have an extra pair to change
into. This in turn is adversely affecting health and hygiene and skin
diseases are most common here. Strangely not much appropriate clothing
has reached the affected areas. In some cases it's been the most
inappropriate clothing thrown at people in a very humiliating manner.
Apart from our main centers in Delhi, Mumbai & Chennai, GOONJ has now
set up its own processing center in Saharsa, where volunteers from
villages are involved in need based sorting of clothes and other
material.

GOONJ's philosophy revolves around preserving the recipient's
dignity, therefore careful matching of material with the needs of the
people, has been the focal point of our relief work. In turn this has
ensured effective distribution with least wastage. In most cases
material is going as part of family packs, based on information
collected through family surveys.

Our TEAM- Mr. Anshu Gupta, Founder Director- GOONJ is personally
supervising the relief operations, based in the temporary GOONJ camp
in Saharsa (Bihar) together with key member Ajay Sharma and a few
volunteers. GOONJ has a formal set with a team of 20 people, 18
big/small grass root organizations as partners and 7 storerooms in
Saharsa with decentralized centers in Triveniganj, Pratapganj &
Madhepura.

Further requirements-
� Woolens & blankets

� Milk powder

� Toys- large quantity

� Sarees & petticoat

� Mosquito nets

� Slippers

� Slates, notebooks and stationery

Address of GOONJ Base Camp 

GOONJ

Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan,

D.B. Road, Near S.B.I

Saharsa, Bihar

--------

Anshu Gupta (Ashoka Fellow)

Founder Director

GOONJ..

Tel.- 011- 26972351, 41401216

Add.- J-93, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-76

Email- anshugoonj24@gmail.com <mailto:anshugoonj24@gmail.com>

Website-www.goonj.info

--
This message has been forwarded to you by shreks@techmahindra.com.
You have not been automatically subscribed to this newsletter.
To subscribe to this newsletter go to

http://lists.goonj.info/listman/?p=subscribe

--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --