We take a look at Project NEEDS, a month-old e-commerce NGO, which is bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots
Casual top from a high-street European brand: Rs. 2,000; favourite perfume by a Japanese fashion designer: Rs. 5,000; accessories from a popular e-store: Rs. 2,500. Now take a look at this: five hand wash soaps for a school Rs. 830; three teaching wall charts for a school:
Rs. 450; biscuits for all students in one school: Rs. 370. That's the contrast in the wants of the fortunate and the needs of the lesser privileged. And if you're wondering, "What can I do to bridge this gap?" the answer lies with Project NEEDS.
Post gaining a master's degree from Cornell University, USA, Nepean Sea Road resident Aayush Tapuriah started working at an organisation that strives to make the produce of marginal farmers accessible to global markets. On "interacting with numerous farmers across India and being exposed to their living conditions," Tapuriah felt the need to initiate something to benefit people from remote parts of the country. But like they say, two heads are better than one. To co-anchor the project, Worli resident Aakriti Sethi joined him. She is "someone he's known from high school," who has now earned a master's in Science in NGOs and Development from the London School of Economics.
The first step the two 25-year-olds took was to speak to recognised names across segments to form an advisory board for the NGO. Then, they conducted recces to understand the basic needs of the lesser privileged and discovered the biggest loophole. Sethi says, "While many people are willing to donate, they have doubts on whether the donated funds will be put to good use." Also, some of the items donated do not meet the needs of the kids. "While some donate shoes of different sizes, others give away short clothes, which cannot be used by kids from a conservative background. Other basic necessities like hand wash and soaps are never donated."
Tapuriah believes that education is the most sustainable way of helping the underprivileged. He says, "When we visited students and their parents in Amravati and inquired their concerns in sending children to school, they said that the strain in buying materials needed for school was too much for them to bear. While the government provides free text books and uniforms to students till class 8, other items such as notebooks, stationery, school shoes, water bottles, bags, etc., are the responsibility of the families, which typically live off Rs.150-250 a day."
The brainstorming got the team to act as intermediates between the donor and the receiver. So all one needs to do is visit the Project NEEDS site, browse through categories such as Nutrition, Empowerment, Education, Development and Sanitation (that's how the name Project NEEDS originated) and purchase items they wish to donate by paying for them online. The field team, then, passes on those items to the respective schools. To maintain transparency, once the team delivers the goods to the school, the donor receives a delivery receipt signed by the headmaster of the school as well as a photo of the distribution of the items.
Project NEEDS is now joined by two more members, Akshaye Rathi and Ishita Dharnidharka. In about a month's time (launched on September 19 this year,) they have seen a footfall of 50 donors; they have been able to reach out to 900 students already. We were curious as to what got these friends to think about the divide in society. Tapuriah replies, "It is the responsibility of the more fortunate members of society to help the underprivileged and given the inequality prevalent in India there is a lot that can be done." Sethi feels that social work, as part of one's curricuulum in school, makes a world of a difference. She says, "While at school, we had to go to slums and interact with the lesser privileged. That exposure might have impacted us indirectly."
Apart from donation via site, cheque and bank transfer you can also volunteer to teach the kids or if you are a doctor and want to conduct free check-ups for the kids, Project NEEDS will be more than happy to accommodate.
You can check out the Project NEEDS website: www.projectneeds.org and also get in touch with them
on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/projectneeds
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