Grassroots comics workshop on regional issues underway

Correspondent
KOHIMA, AUGUST 28

Grassroots Comics Making Workshop, one of the pre-summit events to Sustainable Mountain Development Summit III (SMDS-III), got underway here in the state capital on Tuesday at Jubilee Memorial Centre, Lerie.
The workshop is being organized by Sustainable Development Forum Nagaland (SDFN) in collaboration with India Water Portal for the youth in Nagaland to gain knowledge of expressing their concerns through the medium of comics. Eighteen youth from nine districts of Nagaland – Kohima, Dimapur, Mokokchung, Phek, Tuensang, Zunheboto, Longleng, Kiphiri and Mon- are participating in the three day workshop which will have resource persons from India Water Portal including Usha Dewani, who is also a Grassroots Comics trainer. The participants are from different backgrounds such as research scholars, social workers, entrepreneurs, students, volunteers and government employees.
Exhorting the participants at the inaugural programme of the workshop, chief secretary Nagaland, Alemtemshi Jamir said that besides the skill and art of drawing, comics also constitute an important medium of communication. He expressed hope that the participants will produce comic strips that carry out key messages on issues of sustainable development for mountain regions. Jamir, who is also the convenor of SDFN, underscored the need for the people of the Himalayan states including Nagaland to ponder about sustaining the beauty of the region and its environment. While pointing out that though the Himalayas cool down the temperature of the earth and it is the reason why the region has rainfalls, he lamented that people do not really care how important these places are. “We have to take steps to preserve this region for our future generations,” Jamir said. He further impressed upon the participants that what they learn from the programme will have an impact and create awareness to the people on the largeness of the issue.
Earlier, SDFN member Ella, who gave an overview of the workshop said that comics are a medium that everyone is familiar with and the participants will be learning new tactics during the three day intensive programme, facilitated by India Water Portal. She said the participants will be prepared on how to make comic strips based on issues related to environment and social issues. They will develop a comic strip each on the third day of the programme on local issue and the output will be exhibited during the SMDS-III, she stated.
Commissioner & secretary to the government of Nagaland, Menukhol John and Vengota of NEPED also attended the inaugural programme and encouraged the participants to inspire the general public on issues facing them.
Grassroots Comics are different from mainstream comics. They are created by the common people and act as a tool of delivering socially relevant messages to the people in a crisp, interesting and simple way. Grassroots comics are not developed by artists but by socially aware people based on their own understanding and do not require any heavy duty technical expertise.
It may be mentioned that SMDS-III, which is also referred to as the Kohima Summit 2013, will be held from September 25-27 at Kohima, hosted by the Sustainable Development Forum Nagaland (SDFN). SMDS is a platform of Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) involving 11 Indian Himalayan states to collectively share experiences, discuss issues of development and to find ways that influence national and state public policies. Kohima Summit 2013 will aim to institutionalize a mountain perspective through sharing and collaborating on research, information and knowledge dissemination on three themes- water, forests and agriculture.