Inspirational Story

Community Avenue Network (CAN) Youth

In the June of 2017, our students and we finally reached our ‘manzil’ in Nagaland, all set to embark on a 1500 mile long trip to experience a society and place unlike others. 
When we arrived in Nagaland, we were warmly welcomed by 2 team members of CAN YOUTH (Sedelo and Ysring), who were waiting for us for a whole night as our train was delayed by eight hours. They took us to the Govt. Guest house near the railway station. CanYouth helped us book our rooms at the best price and provided us with a delicious breakfast every morning. There was at least one CanYouth member with us at the guest house who’s staying charges were paid by the organisation itself.

CAN Youth Team

Firstly, we would like to express our gratitude to Can Youth for this phenomenal trip. We surely learnt a lot from this journey and have been rendered speechless. Not even for a moment did we feel s if we were outsiders. Their warm welcome gave us a family feeling. Each member of Can Youth was helpful and welcoming which really made us feel comfortable and hence we became friends immediately. Every member of Can Youth addressed our questions and provided us with a new point of view. They were always there with us and we are thankful to them for helping us in each and every way and providing us with such a wonderful opportunity to meet similar people who are always helpful and supportive. The children, whom we met in the schools, were full of energy and enthusiasm. This homey welcome made us feel as if we had been reunited with our distant friends. The smiling faces of the students totally made our day. Thank you so much for an eye-opening experience of Nagaland. All of us experienced Nagaland in a special way and our students will now be able to say to the outside world that what we thought or heard was very different than what we saw, experienced and lived in Nagaland. We went there with so many assumptions and came back with a new learning. We got to know more about the history of Nagaland, followed by the type of challenges they faced in terms of education and the behaviour of people outside of Nagaland. After this eye-opening experience, we would at least be able to change the mindset of some of our family members and friends about people from Nagaland and other parts of the northeast.

The trip to Nagaland served as an excellent learning journey for our students, as they attended workshops, met likeminded fellow learners, and visited places that enhanced their knowledge. One of the workshops was based on technology in which our students discussed various new technological developments such as Google’s Project Loon, and 3D printers, with a local instructor. They immediately developed plenty of ideas about the potential uses from these revolutionary products. As technological education is drastically underestimated in Delhi government schools, it was beneficial for their technological proficiency to learn about these new tools. They also attended a self-esteem workshop with another local teacher that helped them develop their skills and tools to promote healthy introspection and self-assessment.

I, Anil Kumar, organise a trip every year to different places and always face difficulties in making plans as I have never visited the places I select for the trips before and require a native to help me with the same. I feel lucky that I came across Jenpu, a founder of Can Youth in Nagaland. He helped me a lot in planning this Nagaland trip by organising transportation facility and obtaining permission for our visits within Nagaland, arranging food, and accommodation.

Finally, we would like to especially thank Jenpu for trusting us and sharing the story of his life, Ysring and Sedelo for always being there with us and also for the scrumptious meal at Ysring’s place. Each member of the team has a pure heart and a bright smile which made us feel like their friends and family. We are thankful to the whole team of CanYouth for being there with us during our entire stay and making us feel secure. We wish you all the very best and appreciate the kind of work that you do. We can promise you that we are with you on this journey of bringing about a positive change in society.

Now, we can proudly say that we have a family in Nagaland.

Written by Anil Kumar

Edited by Anshul Gupta and Niharika