Work

 

Ms. Mangvung Haokip is a part of the Thadou-Kuki community, one of the hill tribes that dwell in the mountainous region of Northeast India. “I was born and brought up in a very remote and rural village,” relates Mangvung. “I used to walk on foot for two days to reach my school.”

Mangvung is fiercely dedicated to working for the rights of the poor tribal peoples and especially for women. She maintains that ALL people have a right to food, a right to health, and a right to education, and women in particular have a right to a life free of violence. “Rural women have a lot of capacity and potential at their own level. Women are hard working and courageous; patient, loving, and caring. They bring harmony to the family and society and build the community through non-violent ways.”

As a field coordinator in her organization she forms Self Help Groups for which she provides training and awareness programs in organic farming, gender justice, and micro-finance for business. In addition to her work, she is the founder of the All Tribal Women’s Organization which was created to bring the tribes of the region together to build communication and common understanding to stop tribal and ethnic violence. At ARI she is looking to develop her leadership abilities, as well as increase her knowledge of organic farming. “I know that ARI is a place where I can become a good rural /servant leader.”

Sending Organization

 

The Weaker Section’s Development Council (WSDC) is a volunteer organization established in 1992 by a group of concerned social workers for the benefit of the tribal peoples and other ‘backward’ classes who are the poor and marginalized of society. The director, Ms. Shangnaider Tontang, is a graduate of ARI (1999). The organization organizes people at the grassroots level into Self Help Groups and Organic Farmers’ Clubs and provides workshops in:
• Gender sensitization - that women in the household may participate in decision making for the family and be recognized for their many important contributions in society
• Conflict resolution – teaching non-violent engagement to transform a community
• Food safety and organic farming – including composting, crop rotation, vermiculture, and natural pesticides, such as ash, neem leaves and interplanting
• Microfinance – to promote small business activities for income generation
• Local resource mapping and management including preservation of forests and rivers