Injot Trust – a Guwahati based not for profit organisation concluded the residential phase of Sanghe Urab – a mentorship program for Adivasi youth of Assam. The program was organised in the picturesque locales of Kaziranga, Kohora in Golaghat district where the youth participants and mentors spent four days together, from October 13th to October 16thsharing, discussing and learning about various subjects relevant to the Adivasi community of Assam. The program was supported by State Bank of India.
Sanghe Urab is a first of its kind program that has created a platform for Adivasi youth to interact with experts and facilitators from diverse professional backgrounds – from senior government officials to social development workers, RTI activists, corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, community mobilisers, conflict management experts, indigenous culture and heritage experts amongst many more. Dr. J B Ekka IAS – Principal Secretary of Panchayat and Rural Development, Labour Welfare Department and Tea Tribes Welfare Departmentprovided the participants an understanding of various universal schemes and emphasized on the citizens' right to public services. As an Adivasi himself. Dr. Ekka encouraged the participants to feel reassured about their Adivasi identity and not to get discouraged with set-backs – systemic or otherwise. He emphasized on the power of knowledge and information and the ability to ask right questions at the right platform.
Agyatmitra and Swati Bhatt – Co-founders of Play for Peace initiative in India worked with the social emotional learning of the participants and explored the ideas of leadership, risk-taking and individual and collective vision. Ms. Runa Rafique – livestock entrepreneur and former social development professional had a powerful impression on many participants who are envisioning a life as an entrepreneur. A session on RTI with Anup Chand Minj – lawyer and RTI Activist was an eye-opener for many. "I had never imagined that RTI was so simple to file and was such a powerful and accessible tool," said one participant.
Dr. Hipploletus Toppo – scholar and Adivasi community leaderand Wilfred Topno – ccommunity leader, author of several books and advocate of Adivasi rights introduced the participants to the rich world of Adivasi heritage and culture as well as to people from the Adivasi community who have made an indelible mark in the community.
Injot's Founder Director Ms. Anjali Tirkey – the catalyst of this engagement is hopeful that programs like Sanghe Urabwill help Adivasi youth to reimagine a modernAdivasidom and design a course of life that is progressive and constructive. "While every small step counts, I will consider Sanghe Urab a true success if some of these youth go back to their communities to start meaningful conversations and provide information which otherwise is usually out of reach for marginalised communities," she asserted.
Sanghe Urab means 'let's fly together' in Sadri – the lingua franca of Adivasis in Assam. The program comprised four phases – the first three were conducted online from July to September with a total of 15 sessions on a wide range of topics – identity, emotions, Adivasi heritage, employability skills, social justice and many more.