A day with Mara Thyultia Py (MTP) at Chakhang.
This piece finds place in the June 2013 issue of the Newsletter and Journal of the Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India Saiha, one of the eight districts of Mizoram is located at its fag end and caresses Myanmar. It houses some of the most amazing remaining rain forests in community owned lands within the biodiversity hotspot of northeastern India. Samrakshan ( NGO, with which I am associated ) works towards conservation education with school going children ( and their teachers ) of select schools, youth associations, village councils and forest department personnel in Saiha. It perceives them as active partners in the program rather than as participants. Film screenings, tea stall conversations, posters, participating in celebrations – meetings of partners, nature walk, documentation of local wildlife values are some of the actions undertaken in the process. While being sensitive to the local cultural values efforts are designed to involve the partners in discussions, argumen