In Paryavaran Mitra, we aim to have a co-operative as a final institution wherein our lovely sisters will be the owners and we will just be the facilitators. As a part of our model we purchase-sell the recyclables collected by our sisters. In the whole process we earn some profit which is then shared back with the sisters on bi-yearly basis in terms of groceries, education fee for their kids or any specific medical treatment they need. Also, the profit is shared in the ratio of business the women have given us.
We are happy to share that yesterday was our 5th Profit Sharing event. We shared groceries worth of Rs.60,000 among 80 sisters from two communities. Sisters received groceries ranging from Rs.2500 to Rs.350 depending on their business share.
It was surprising that almost 50% of the women were visiting Gandhi Ashram for the 1st time. The event started with a peaceful prayer followed by a beautiful sharing by our mentor Viren Bhai about Gandhi Ashram, Manav Sadhna and our vision behind Paryavaran Mitra. We were also blessed to have Flt Lt Dr. S. Y. Deshmukh as our guest. He is professor in MIT, Pune and the visionary behind MIT NCC TROOP which produced 100s of Defense and Administrative officers in last 2 decades. He was here on an official visit to examine the scope of social internships for students of MIT in Manav Sadhna. Groceries were distributed to sisters by our guests and senior team members. We also showcased a short film made by our family friend Divyang and Veronicaben on the life of rag-picking women from a kid’s point of view. It brought many sisters into tears.
After grocery distribution, sisters had an amazing time playing Garba. The heat had absolutely no impact on their enthusiasm. At the end, they were served with delicious Pav Bhaji and ice-cream.
We are determined to continue our journey of bringing smiles and respect to the lesser privileged sections of our society with same compassion and love.
