Though Htilo’s home and family are in the town of Loikaw, he spends most of his time up in the mountain village of Shin Phyu Tang, where he manages a 1,000 acre farm, owned by the Catholic Church. The farm’s main crop has long been fruits such as oranges, apples, mangos, jackfruit, bananas, and pineapple, but Htilo is slowly moving over to tea, cardamom, jackol beans, and pine trees, as he feels the soil and climate conditions are better suited to these…..
Emma is the farm manager and trainer at the St. Patrick’s Centre for Integral Development. As he describes it, he is in charge of everything – from taking care of the animals and gardens to getting people to the hospital to heating up the tea water for guests. The center keeps abundant livestock, including cows, goats, donkeys, rabbits, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, chickens, ducks, and fish.
The town of Tuensang is located in the far east of Nagaland, reachable only by eight hours of “rock-n-roll” driving along rough mountain roads. The people of this area are often referred to as backward, due to their remoteness and traditional lifestyle, but for Chonglise Sangtam, these are his people and this is his home…..
Bya works in the Kay Htoe Boe Social Development Association which serves 100 Kay Htoe Boe villages in Kayah state, villages recognizable by their tall ceremonial poles called Tobo. The Kay Htoe Boe are a group within Kayah State that identify themselves according to their tradition of animist cultural practices that dates back thousands of years…..
For the last 10 years Pamella (and she likes both of those ‘L’s in her name) has been serving as an administrator at the Ulumbi Secondary School, where she works closely with the school principal in managing operations and also assists in preparing examinations. She advocates hard to the school’s agriculture club to move toward organic practices for their long term health benefit, but this has proven to be an uphill battle as chemical fertilizers are subsidized and heavily promoted in Kenya and the students believe they are the key to getting quick and abundant yields.
