Facing Emotional Challenges While Working In Manipur

Letting go of a comfortable life back in the city and coming and living in a remote village in the North-East of India is definitely not a piece of cake. But with the right attitude, courage and the will to make a difference, even mountains can be moved. Our former Programme Manager Ankita Phalle was one of these brave people who helped shape a lot of lives. She writes about the emotional ups and downs that she personally encountered while working closely with the tribes of Manipur.

Kabuikhullen- A village that is 9kms/ 3-hour trek away from Ijeirong with a kaccha road access.
Kabuikhullen- The village that had to resettle to a new land after being struck by an earthquake.
Kabuikhullen- “Their language is different than Ijeirong. It is very harsh.”
Kabuikhullen- “You must not go there alone.”
We have 77 students from Kabuikhullen out of the 230 students staying in the Sunbird Friendship Hostel. And this is all the information I got every time I asked about Kabuikhullen. A kilometre away from Kabuikhullen is Bakuwa. A village from which we have 33 students in the Hostel.
It was high time I visited these villages to know more about them, meet the parents of the boarders, understand their problems and identify whether they would like to be a part of our Livelihood Development Project which I am eagerly waiting to implement to empower these villagers.

“No, Ankita. How will you go alone? You must not go alone.” said Amos when I phoned him to tell him about my plan.
“But I am not going alone. I am going with the students. I will stay in one of their homes.”
“But don’t go to Kabuikhullen alone is what I am saying. Take some adult with you from the village or wait for me to come back”
“But I am not going alone! I have the students. And I don’t want to trouble someone else to walk so much. Not even you.”
“Okay, but don’t stay in Kabuikhullen then. Stay in Bakuwa.”
“Okay, I will stay in Bakuwa. But I am going on Friday and coming back on Sunday.”
“Can you manage? Stay will not be comfortable. Food is also a problem. Are you sure? Who will translate?”
“I am sure. The students will translate. Don’t worry.”
I knew that a lot of work was going to come up in the following weeks and my movement from Ijeirong would be restricted. So, I was hell bent in going for the visit that weekend and wasn’t going to wait for anyone to accompany me.

My visit there was one of the most emotional site visits of my life. The girls were giggling throughout the trek because I was going to be with them in their village for the next 2 days! It meant so much to them. I reached Bakuwa post sunset on Friday. I had decided to stay at Lansalu’s house. There was no means to communicate to them about my visit in advance. Surprised by seeing someone from a different part of India, I had a lot of curious pairs of eyes staring at me as I walked through the village to reach Lansa’s house. What a simple but beautiful house it was. Within no time, all parents of the boarders were called for a meeting in Lansa’s house post dinner. Everyone was thrilled to see me there.
“You really trekked all the way here? You are so strong, miss.”
“But you all do it all the time. So, you are stronger.”

Each time an important guest has visited Ijeirong and we’ve held a programme, parents have walked up for it. They never got a chance to interact with Chris Sir or any of the Sunbird Team members properly because every time they came up, they had to leave back the same day to make sure they reached their village before sunset. This time parents of both villages had a chance to discuss everything with me. Know more about Sunbird, clear their doubts and share their problems.

The next two days, the girls took me around Bakuwa and Kabuikhullen. Every house I walked past invited me over for a cup of tea. We could not communicate much; the girls were our translators but they shared their stories with me. Stories of medical cases that could not be treated due to lack of funds, of severe problems faced during emergencies due to difficulties in transportation, of how corruption by the Government and threat from the militants affects their sources of income. I felt helpless and heartbroken hearing them.

During one of the meetings I was having with a group of parents from Kabuikhullen, one parent stood up and said this-
“Thank you very very much Miss for taking efforts to come all the way down here and visiting our homes and talking to us. We cannot give you much because we have nothing to give you. But we can pray for you and give you our blessings. May God bless you. You will surely go to heaven.”
“Honestly, I want to thank YOU ALL to accept me so warmly. If I walk around Mumbai like this, no one is going to open their homes and invite me inside for a cup of tea without even knowing me. Here, every house I passed invited me inside with a smile, offered me tea and some of them even offered 1 or 2 fruits. This is a lot for me. You already gave me so much.”

And then I realised how Kabuikhullen, even though so remote, is not at all scary. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and people are extremely warm and welcoming. It is just secluded from the rest of the world.

However, I had such contrasting emotions throughout my visit. At one moment it was extreme happiness for seeing heavenly landscapes, at another a feeling of pride to do a 3 day visit in a land this remote without any local adult’s guidance and then the next a feeling of helplessness while listening to the stories of their truth that they shared.

The first thing I did after reaching back up is phone Chris Sir to say this-
“It was a good visit. Very informative. But I don’t think I can go on any more visits for a long time now. I am extremely overwhelmed. I feel helpless when they share their problems. I can’t hear more of this.”
“But that’s the challenge, Ankita. You must dig deeper into this, find out the problems and work solutions for them. That’s why I am in the city working 16 hours a day to raise funds. You make the plan. Spot the local support. Execute it. You have all the freedom to work and make a difference.”

Leaving this post with a beautiful paragraph I came across today

Bring pleasure to the lives of another living being every day. Do that.