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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Feb. 7 (EMN): After her crowning moment in Kohima on December 2019 as Miss Nagaland, Vikuonuo Sachu, aged 19, has devoted herself to the Beauty with a Purpose (BWAP) project with the theme, ‘livelihood generation and education.’ The project aims to cover all the 12 districts of Nagaland to “reconnect with our roots”.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, Sachu shared that in many parts of Nagaland life is “sad and unimaginable”, from not being able to receive basic facilities like drinking water, electricity, public transport, healthcare facilities, and marketing source, to name a few.
“We are making sure that we display a proper picture of Nagaland especially in some areas,” Sachu informed.
“We don’t have any department entailing with us but we make sure that through this project we would be able to submit our written documentary to various departments of the government by highlighting the needs of the people,” she added.
While mentioning that child labour is rising at an alarming rate in the state, she said that parents who cannot support the education of their children are ‘losing a bright future’.
“Of course in every village we go, we are also making sure that we are providing them proper knowledge and proper guidance about what the government is also trying to do,” she said, adding that despite hundreds of avenues, people are unaware about certain schemes, certain facilities that the government is providing them.
She also shared how departments concerned are not able to reach the affected people due to deplorable road conditions and in some places, people are unable to reach even government offices. “We are also trying our best to help and support our people in the best possible ways that we can with the little part that we are doing,” said Sachu.
She also briefed about one of her projects which focus on agriculture, farmers and education of young people about farming and different plantations in Nagaland. “Agriculture being the main occupation of Nagas, have been neglected over quite some time. We have certainly refused to build up our farmers and practice the tag, ‘Made in Nagaland’ in a very small-scale,” Sachu said.
“Undoubtedly we are still underdeveloped lacking facilities and all kinds of resources; but over time we have been extremely dependent on the resources outside of our state rather than utilising and conserving what we have with us and how we can develop the use of our resources,” she shared.
Besides vegetables, fruits or herbs and handicraft vendors, she said there are many local businesses that are coming up ‘but there are times that people neglect the tag of Made in Nagaland’. Therefore, “through the project we wanted to make sure that we put in the proper usage of this tag,” she added.
“We believe that through this project we would be able to picturise Nagaland at its worst to the best and educate our younger generation to start practicing Made in Nagaland,” Sachu said.
Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the project was put on hold for sometime last year. Yet, after the improvement in the situation, with BWAP project being supervised by Beauty Aesthetic Society of Nagaland (BASN) and associated with Entrepreneur Associates and India Trail as its travel partner, Sachu has successfully visited three districts in a row.
She has visited Chepoketa, one of the most remote villages in Phek and Beisuimpui village in Peren where Heraka religion remains alive even today.
She also visited Sunglhu, one of the oldest Kuki villages, the Englan range and a soap factory in Wokha district.
The district administration and district partners have been providing Sachu the opportunity to travel across the districts in some of the most remote villages.
Meanwhile, she will be travelling to some villages in Zunheboto and Mokokchung district this week ‘to understand’ the livelihood scenario in these places.