What an idea! Rainbow started as an employment activity for our CVT trainees. Although common in the West, the concept of a shop with secondhand goods for sale is virtually unheard of in India. For us, it weaves together a number of colorful strands in what we hope will one day be a glorious magic carpet.

• Stuff! Some of us have too much of it – some have too little. A second-hand shop mixes it all up. It takes the excess that would otherwise gather dust in a closet and puts it back in circulation, freeing space in one home and finding a new life in another. We get regular donations of amazing quality from friends around the country, particularly those being transferred abroad – get in touch if you have something to contribute. We will arrange a pick-up!
  
  
• Choices! Poor people often have to just take what they get. The quality of what they can afford to buy is limited and if people give them things, they can’t pick and choose. In a second-hand shop, they can browse and meander and make their selections based on their own tastes.
  
  
• Jobs! There is a lot of work involved in running Rainbow. Everything that is donated has to be prepared for display – that may mean replacing buttons or mending small tears in garments and it definitely means sorting and pressing clothes and hanging them up in the appropriate section of the store. Household items need to be polished and shined and books and DVDs have to be dusted and neatly arranged. All good, simple jobs which our CVT trainees are quite capable of doing. They also make the paper bags we put the merchandise in and, with volunteer helpers – often a parent – they staff the shop themselves.