They toil in the heat all day long, often walking on foot for long distances hoping for just a few customers to buy their goods. But many a times, their efforts go in vain as people rudely brush them aside and heave insults upon them. Yet, each morning these street sellers have no choice but to get up and continue this tireless routine in the hope of earning enough to enjoy a day's meal.
Pained at their sad plight, youngster Ishita Godinho was moved to do something about it. “I have been volunteering for about a year with an NGO Being Children where I teach slum children. Through my interactions with these communities I got to know about the problems they face with regards to selling their good,” says Godinho. “People bargain with these sellers for little things. And it is unfair to them really, especially since they go long distances just to source their products. Of course some of them make their own things too.”
Godinho believes that one of the reasons for this lack of demand is that people are not aware about these people. “For instance just after you cross the Zuari Bridge, you will find ladies selling garlands of mogra flowers. Although people do pass that side to go to temples, they usually buy garlands beforehand from the market because they don't know that these people are there,” she says. After successfully managing to convince a relative who owns a party shop to buy balloons from these sellers, and after much deliberation, she decided to launch a website so that she could give these sellers a platform to showcase their items online and create wider awareness. Thus Gypsy Kind was born. "Another issue is with regards to educating their children. These people are not ready to send their kids to schools because for them the kids are another source of income. So if through this initiative, these sellers manage to do well, they can send their kids to schools and in turn give them a chance for a better future,” says Godinho.
Explaining to these sellers about her idea, was not without its hiccups. “Some people didn't understand what I meant when I spoke about the internet. One guy asked me what my cut would be,” she reveals adding that it took some convincing to show that she wasn't going to get any monetary benefit out of it. But many of the sellers were excited about the prospect. “The day after I put up the Facebook page, they came up to me excitedly to ask if anyone had inquired about their goods,” she chuckles, adding that in just a few weeks since she launched the site, she has already managed to find some customers for the goods.
Through the page and site, she uploads pictures of the wares along with information as to where one can find them. “Some of these sellers move around but I have their contact details so people just need to get in touch with me,” she says. “Also, their items are at a better rate. When I upload the pictures and details online I usually check with some other online sites and silently cheer because our rates are better.”
Godinho says that her only aim is to help these sellers out in the small way that she can while appealing to people to patronize their wares. “People have their own preferences as to where the goods come from. Yes, in some cases there may be health concerns, but for things like coconuts or jewellery there is no problem buying it from these people,” she says.
And another way to keep this initiative thriving is by helping her out in her mission. Godinho is looking to crowd-source. So if anyone knows of a street seller who could benefit, get in touch with the youngster and she will get them the exposure they need.
