Ms. Tial Chin Thluai

Work

Growing up with her widowed mother and younger sister, Ms. Thluai understands the fear of depending on subsistence farming. Her mother struggled, but was able to provide enough food.  However she was not able to grow enough to provide an income to send her daughter to school. The Thantlang Association of Baptist Churches (TABC) gave her a scholarship that allowed her to attend seminary. Upon graduation Ms. Thluai did not hesitate to return to her rural village to serve as a pastor in the Baptist Church although she is not yet an ordained minister. In addition to serving the spiritual needs of her congregation Ms. Thluai acts as the Women’s Secretary for an area of ten villages where she coordinates women’s groups for social development.

Ms. Thluai’s experience in shifting cultivation, otherwise known as slash and burn farming, has made her want to learn more about more permanent and sustainable methods of  agriculture. As part of the Chin Tribe, she is also participating in the Chin Relief and Development Program Plan. She hopes to teach her the people of her rural parish better farming methods for food security and a better life.

Sending

Organization

The Chin people are one of the hill tribes of the Chin State in Myanmar.  Their life primarily depends on agriculture. To confront the challenges in their life, the Thantlang Association of Baptist Churches has implemented the Chin Relief and Development Program Plan. The goal of CRDP is to promote and support sustainable changes in agriculture and in the community of the Chin tribe. They are working to prevent deforestation and soil erosion, to install an environmentally friendly and safe drinking water system, to improve the health and education sector, and to facilitate communication between people within Chin community. To realize these goals, CRDP has put forth a strategy to shift people’s ideas from large scale agriculture to small and diverse cultivation of fruits, crops, vegetables, livestock and forests, which is suitable and sustainable for small households and communities, and which also conserves the environment.