As part of the social action program with SHARE on September 13th a total of 57 artisans from Nirmaan, Sahara, and WARE Collectives volunteered to participate in a Beach Cleaning Drive!
This event was organized to clean up after the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi lasts for 10 days during which hundreds of clay and plaster of paris statues of the god Ganesh are decorated with flowers, fabric, paint and other finery. At the end of the celebration the images are immersed in the sea or other body of water. Once the festival is over the leftover debris cover the beaches and clog the water.
All of the artisans arrived at the beach before the event's 7:30 am start. Since the women had to travel over an hour to get from their homes to the shore, this made for a very early morning. And, of course, they all made sure that they had time to finish their daily routines (like cooking and getting their children ready) before setting off.
Artisans from Nirmaan brought breakfast for all the cooperatives' volunteers. After a good refueling, they worked together to clear the beach of paper waste, bedraggled flower garlands, bits of sparkly fabric and statue pieces.
After all their hard work, the artisans relaxed with some games. Sahara Collective organized some fun activities, including Kho Kho, a traditional game of team tag.
All in all, the women managed to have a good time while putting in a lot of hard work. They enjoyed the opportunity to help and are inspired to bring back to their communities a new focus on the environment.
