Correspondent
KOHIMA, OCTOBER 3
In a step to promote diverse skills of the youth and encourage them to venture into the realm of entrepreneurship, a group of young entrepreneurs and social workers have launched ‘Touch Khuzama’, an initiative towards self-employment. The members of this group, Dream Team, hail from Khuzama, the last village of the southern Angami area bordering Manipur.
Talking to media persons at Orami, Kohima on Thursday, Dream Team founders Asi Kera, Razouvikhol Lüho and Zhovito Tsükrü said they conceptualized the Touch Khuzama project to initiate a viable source of avenue towards self-empowerment and to generate a sense of entrepreneurship among the youth of their village.
The objective of the project is to promote self-employment, sustainable tourism and culture, dignity of labour and talents and skills in young people in view of the alarming rise in number of unemployed youth.
Razouvikhol, a young entrepreneur and a counsellor, informed that funds raised through Touch Khuzama projects will be utilized as aid for young people who want to set up their own business in the village. He said the initial projects are Rock for a Change mega concert which is scheduled to be held in Khuzama on November 9 featuring renowned artists and bands like Divine Connection, Kenei Chale, Mengu Soukhrie, Diethozo Thakro, Azeena Kahmei etc., and T-shirt project, bringing out t-shirts with Touch Khuzama logo to generate funds. He said seminars and career counselling are also on the pipeline as part of Touch Khuzama project.
“We want to help each other through this project,” says Zhovito, who is a social worker and a student leader.
He goes on to add that with the uprising unemployment scenario in the state, the youth cannot afford to keep on waiting for opportunities to come to them. He said the group also observed that unemployment is also an aspect of the rise in anti-social activities.
Asi Kera, an upcoming entrepreneur and an indigenous food serving restaurant owner in Kohima, said Dream Team aspires to change the stagnant mindset of the people about seeking government service and encourage young people to take up business in tune with what they are good at. He said though the group is starting with small scale projects, it hoped that they will encourage not just the people of Khuzama but also the youth of the neighbouring villages.
Khuzama village is located 27kms away from the state capital Kohima with the National Highway-29 running through it. According to Dream Team, it is a viable and centrally located village with lots of trading potential and opportunities that have not been appropriately tapped yet. The village also boasts of a virgin forest, Kezol, which offers great scope for tourism.
