Soneva Namoona Launches ‘Alun Balun’ Resale Market With Seven Namoona Islands
Tuesday 4th of October 2022
On Saturday, Soneva Namoona has partnered with Women’s Development Committees (WDCs) of Seven Namoona islands to launch a new resale market, ‘Alun Balun’. The market is currently undergoing its pilot phase which will see the reselling of second-hand goods to the public in the Namoona islands of Maalhos, Dharavandhoo, Kihaadhoo, Dhonfanu, Kudarikilu, Kamadhoo and Kendhoo.
The ‘Alun Balun’ hopes to instill a re-use culture in the islands through the establishment of an inter-island secondhand market, offering commodities at affordable prices. In doing so, the market will facilitate the utmost use of products to their lifespan while helping to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.
To collect items for the market, WDCs will be obtaining household items before they are discarded and will repair and clean them if required. Afterwards, the items will be handed over to the WDC of another island for the re-sale phase. By circulating the second-hand goods among the islands, the WDCs are able to overcome re-selling of used products within the same island communities.
While speaking about the new initiative Reduce Manager at Soneva Namoona, Khady Hamid said “Soneva Namoona is thrilled to be working with such passionate and ambitious women from 7 Namoona Islands across Baa Atoll on the pressing issue of waste. Collectively focusing our efforts on the reduction of waste generation with the Alun Balun resale market will hopefully inspire us all to think twice before we throw an item away”.
Mariyam Nishreen from Dhonfanu WDC commented “What we are starting today in Baa Atoll will create greater opportunities for women in resource conservation while providing the WDCs with an income stream. Even though, the Namoona WDCs of Baa Atoll are pioneering this, our hope is that other islands in Baa atoll and beyond will also join the network”.
The market was launched con-currently in all the 7 Namoona islands on Saturday. A second edition of the market is set to be held in Kihadhoo on the upcoming Saturday with the market pulling stops at a new Namoona island every Saturday till a complete rotation. All the money raised from the sales will be vested with the WDCs.
Soneva Namoona is an NGO striving to provide innovative solutions to empower Maldivian societies to become zero waste communities. With a focus given on the three pillars, Reduce, Recycle and Inspire the first pilot project of the NGO took place in 2019 with just 3 local islands. Since then, the Namoona islands have expanded to 21 with other atolls joining in the program.
