Youngs Club, giving hope to the hopeless

For somebody who dropped out of school because his family could not afford it, Jenpu Rongmei has come a long way. He has stood firm in pursuing the dream of his childhood, which is to serve people; and he has gone on to achieve it, acknowledging still, that it was by the sheer grace of God.

He did not look back and he did not give in to the financial constraints that his family had, because as they say, there is always a way for someone who has the will. “Youngs Club” was born out of many struggles and hard work but it’s got the most beautiful story to tell. Jenpu formed the club in 2010 in memory of his younger brother who died as a victim of drugs. His efforts that began to pay off in 2010, dates back to a humble beginning in 2000 when he started involving himself in youth activities in his locality, voluntarily engaging himself for the welfare of the students and the community at large.

Coming across a number of school drop-outs, who eventually got frustrated and as a result indulged themselves in anti-social activities including drug abuse, Jenpu began by motivating them in his own little way. He asserts that he was not highly qualified but it does not come as a surprise that he was recognized by his own students’ community and hence, served as an executive member. Much as he wanted to study further, his financial condition at home did not allow him, which, he confesses was hurtful.

In 2004, he started visiting offices of NGOs, collecting information on HIV/AIDS, Youth Development and how to work on community service notwithstanding the fact that he was given a cold shoulder several times. However during 2005, he started working at an NGO as a Peer Outreach Worker in the UNODC project at Bethesda Youth welfare centre. One could say 2006 was a painful year for him as he lost his brother to drugs that year and felt like he lost everything. But it was also then, he started focusing more on the youths, drug users and alcoholics alike.

“I started talking about drugs at home, family circle, youth programs and even in sport activities but could not do independently since I was working under an organization, and so, in the year 2010, I took a bold decision to do something for the youths, especially for the dropout students…I couldn’t save my own brother from drugs but took a challenge to spread awareness to other youths to abstain from drugs”, he thoughtfully expresses.

He insists that it was with the help of his close friends and younger sister that Youngs’ Club was formed on 22^nd August, 2010 with the motto ‘Let’s give hope’. Youngs Club gives support to young people and drop-out students to engage themselves in community service, organize various youth programs, events, sports, workshops etc,  helping them abstain from anti social activities and to become self responsible in every field.

Well, today, that same school drop-out, who couldn’t afford to study all he wanted, has many enriching experiences tucked under his belt. He has worked at the United Nation’s Office for Drugs and Crime H- 13 Project at Bethesda Youth Welfare Centre, worked on the Targeted Intervention Project on truckers at NEDHIV, he was also selected at CLLJ for  the youth mentoring and development program at Delhi, served as Information secretary of Dimapur District Voluntary Blood Donors Association, attended several workshops, conferences and trainings outside Nagaland such as the Youth Leadership in Kolkata 2013, Northeast training on voluntary blood donation at Mizoram in 2013, Human Rights workshop at Shillong  2012, Drugs conference on searching the truth and solution at Guwahati 2013, and Nagaland’s own event, Indian Himalaya Youth Summit at Kisama. Meanwhile, Youngs Club also distinguished itself by earning the title, Most Trusted Partner of Voluntary Blood Donation by district hospital blood bank in the year 2012 apart from receiving the Nagaland state best youth club award 2013 from Nehru Yuva Kendra.

Jenpu, who starts a new day with hope and faith has a special corner for downtrodden children, who have no proper education, proper food, proper health facilities even as he emphasizes that ‘every child is beautiful, rich or poor.’ His heart also goes out for dropout students while observing that the society only talks about educated unemployed, and questions, what about drop out students, should we just leave them? “They have the talent but lack opportunity’, he says and regretfully adds that ‘most people always target drop-out students for wrong doings…the problem is that the society don’t accept them’.

Yet, when it comes to his most fulfilling moment, he is happy to share about a girl he sponsored, completing her Theological Studies apart from another dropout Student, who changed his lifestyle by participating in his programs and activities, and is currently working in Kerala.

It isn’t hard to see why Jenpu has come this far. Hard work does pay off and he has certainly shown the courage to live a well cherished dream, even as the thriving social worker leaves with some food for thought- “Take your own decisions, take control! Be self responsible...Live not only for you but live for others (society).”

Some of his Projects:

Initiated and started “Project Care & Hope”, a home based care support project for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, Drug abuse and alcoholic parents. Besides, it also supports children from downtrodden background for those who want to continue studies. With no funding agency for this project, Jenpu manages with his team by identifying the child and reaching out to the community, sharing the painful stories of those children. People touched by their stories sponsor these children. Presently, most of the members of Naga Blog are supporting the children under Care and Hope.

‘Discover Positive’: ‘Discover Positive’ project aims to enable school/College drop-outs and underprivileged youths to transcend from dependency to independency by facilitating them to face challenges whilst enhancing their talents/abilities for a productive life. ‘Discover Positive’ is to reach out to the young people, especially dropout students and underprivileged youth and to give them determination to discover their positive challenge towards a better life, to explore their talents to, develop their capacity, become sociable, involve themselves in a youth program and other community service so as to abstain from Anti-Social Activities. 

Kevitho Kera: The social activist, writer & aspiring politician

His first experience for a social cause was the Naga Blog Fire Relief Trip to Yakshu and Yongkhao villages under Mon District in 2012, during a time these two villages were ravaged by fire. More recently, Kevitho Kera was involved in organizing the Naga Blog Protest Rallies against the atrocities committed by the Karbis against the Western Rengmas in Karbi Anglong in Dimapur and Kohima.

These two enriching experiences also perhaps explain his desire to be a Social Activist while members of Kuknalim.com would fondly remember him as “Nightwing” who almost religiously visited the website, when hundreds of Naga youths studying or working outside in the cities were just beginning to connect themselves in a lively chat-room that never seemed to sleep.

He has been popular right from the Kuknalim days till the time social networking took over, and he began to take more active part in promoting social causes. He is also the brainchild behind Facebook groups such as Photography Naga, Naga Spear, Naga Artwork Page and Learn Tenyidie, to name a few.

Interestingly, a look into his ambitions reveal a variety of career choices ranging from a Commando Captain to a Christian Missionary to becoming an IAS Officer and currently boiling down to a Social Activist, who, he says would one day become a politician.

In conversation with a future politician, who does not mind calling himself a failed businessman, YNOX brings to our readers in our first issue for 2014, more glimpses into the life of Kevitho Kera, who is not only a social activist but also a writer and a poet.

Best childhood memories:

One would be me playing G.I.Joes as a boy and being surrounded by my cousins. As a boy I was very imaginative and I would cook up all false war stories and play with G.I.Joes and my cousins would just watch me play for hours. Some of my cousins would come for sleepovers during their vacations just to watch me play G.I.Joes! Another would be saving up money to buy Tintin and Commando comics. I also read a lot of books, it’s only when I grew up I stopped reading books.

Describe yourself:

Well I love the word Nerd and I am a big time Nerd and I am very proud of it. Other than that I am a semi- extrovert, friendly, fun loving, very observant and I have a thick skin; I am not hurt easily and I can forgive people easily. One thing about me is that I believe I was a Knight in my previous birth (laughs). I used to spent hours googling about Knights; how they behaved, how they talked, etc… that is where I believe being a gentleman came from like letting girls go inside first, pulling chairs and opening doors for girls.

Education:

B.A History Honors, Delhi University.

When did your love for writing begin and where do you draw inspiration from?

First of all I am just a pseudo-writer and I write bad poetry! But yes I love writing and my love for writing began as a boy in high school when I wrote about the story of a dog being raised in a Naga family while I started writing poems during my college days. I am so into Naga Social and Political issues and that is where I draw my inspiration from, for my write-ups but for my poetry is more about personal issues.

Experiences with Social Campaigns:

My first experience for a social cause was the ‘The Naga Blog Fire Relief Trip’ to Yakshu and Yongkhao villages under Mon District in 2012. The two villages were ravaged by fire, so The Naga Bloggers collected money and materials and donated it to the two villages. That trip was an eye opener for me and broadened my views, I will never forget the trip! Recently I was involved in organizing the ‘The Naga Blog Protest Rallies’ against the atrocities committed by the Karbis against the Western Rengmas in Karbi Anglong in Dimapur and Kohima. Organizing protest rallies was no joke and I learned a lot. For example organizing protest rallies differs with every district and also one thing which we have to keep in mind is that we have to respect the district administrations. Organizing protest rally in Dimapur was easier but in Kohima we not only had to get the permission of the district administration but also the permissions of the different apex bodies of Kohima District. I learned to respect the District administration and the apex bodies through these two protest rallies.

Any social cause you particularly care for and why?

One thing that is always on my mind these days are the Nagas outside Nagaland. We Nagas of Nagaland are relatively in a better position than the Nagas living In Myanmar or Arunachal Pradesh. I especially want to work for Nagas of Myanmar, as they are struggling a lot; they are socially, politically and economically struggling more than the Nagas of India, the world is making them question their identity. One day when I am rich enough and get my passport, I’ll go to the Naga areas of Myanmar and tell their stories to the world.

What are your struggles and challenges and how do you overcome them?

I have a mental illness call Anxiety Disorder which is a scary illness but I have overcome it with sheer will power and with the help of Medicines. I want to tell Nagas that Mental Illness is here in Nagaland and you are not mad or anything like. It is just a sickness which can be cured with medicines. I used to have issues with confidence when I was younger but I overcame it with the help of God and constantly telling myself that I am unique and I have unique talents .

What does a normal day look like for you?

On a normal day I wake up and brush my teeth with vengeance! Have a cup of tea and carefully go through the newspapers and if my hawk eye catches anything interesting, I write it down and post it in The Naga Blog. I spent most of time in the internet googling stuffs, reading it and updating myself. If civil service exams are near I go to my table and bury my head in my books. Also I love to lie on the bed and think about a lot on how I can contribute to the Naga Society; I do a lot of thinking on a normal day.

Hobbies:

I do a little bit of gardening; I love flowers. One may say it’s unmanly but I got green fingers after my mom. I used to do a little bit of sketching and read a lot of books. I plan to take up the two again this year.

If there is one thing you can change in the Naga society, what would it be and why?

Oh let me put it straight and precisely. We Nagas are very, very, very, laidback. I want to change that in any way I can. I want us to be like the hard working Japanese and Singaporeans; they are from small countries but look where their hard work and dedication led them to. They are economic powerhouses!

Where do you go from here?

Well I plan to write a book and maybe more if God permits. Then I would love to do a lot of social service and yes I would love to join Politics. Though I am from a very typical Naga middle class family, we have no money and no connection but I dream of being a politician one day.