The Green Club Zunheboto, a not-for-profit organization, was formed on June 4, 2011 with its main focus to promote holistic community development in Zunheboto District and Nagaland through local actions. According to the Club, these local actions include engaging rural, educated youth and citizens, and to help facilitate positive dialogue for sustainable development among all members of the society within and outside Nagaland.
For 12 years, the Green Club Zunheboto has been serving the community by generating public consciousness of biological and cultural diversity, building awareness on employment avenues, capacity building, biodiversity and waste management. Over the years, the Club has collaborated with different local bodies and student unions, churches, government for social change. The activities of the club include town cleanliness and beautification, awareness programs and seminars on HIV/AIDS, blood donation, environment, skill development trainings, besides various charitable contributions.
Town cleanliness and beautification has been a priority of the Club. Through its initiative Project 50:Jukivi Zunheboto, the Club has conducted mural paintings around the town, construction of view point in 2020 (now dismantled) and Aghuno – ah at Old town colony projects were taken up and completed with the help of generous donors and well wishers.
“Zunheboto perhaps unofficially has one of the largest wall painting in Nagaland at Indoor stadium which was painted in 2018 by the Club. It is also worth mentioning that this project was wholeheartedly supported by the then DC Sir Shanavas C. Ummar, ADC sir Vekhoyi, Town Council Zunheboto and the different departments in Zunheboto who supported us financially. The project costed more than 1.5 lakhs which also included the paintings at the SBCZ church road at Old Town colony,” states the Club.
Under Project 50: Jukivi Zunheboto, plastic bottles and cans were collected in and around the town and were made into useable pen holders, flower pots, dustbin et cetera and exhibited at the Youth Expo 2012 to educate people on Reuse and recycling of the waste products
The club also launched the Iji green campaign in 2013 aimed at sanitation and beautification. Under this project, various locations in the town which were filled with garbage were cleaned and transformed into small gardens. The Club also undertook renovation of the old clock tower at project Colony, filling of potholes in the main town and South Point and the DC office complex. ”Cleanliness drive as well as some repair work was also at Civil hospital Zunheboto. The campaign ended with Iji Green Concert for the people of Zunheboto, to promote peace, foster change, rekindling the feeling of oneness and to infuse festive mood in the minds of the people at the main town on November 20,” mentions the Club.
The Club also set up a street library at ZTSBC compound in 2021 to encourage people, especially students, to develop the habit of reading books.
“Special days like the World Environment Day, World Aids Day, Blood donors day is observed in collaboration with different departments under Zunheboto as well as skill development trainings like haircutting, tailoring, baking class are imparted to local youths from time to time as and when the club gets sponsorships,” says the members of the Club.
The Club has also collaborated with 5 Assam Rifles and 11 Assam rifles in imparting tailoring, cooking and haircutting training to the youths of Zunheboto.
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During the Covid 19 lockdown sanitary pads, facemask, and other toiletries were donated to girls and women in collaboration with CAN Youth Dimapur in 2020. A notable initiative of the Club has been the ‘Students First’ project 2020 where the Club raised an amount of 2,12, 656 rupees in three weeks to help finance students who were on the verge of dropping out of school during the pandemic due to financial constraints. Out of the total amount, rupees 2,07,100 was paid to 16 different schools in Zunheboto for students to cover their monthly fees and the remaining amount of rupees 5556/- was donated to Mount Carmel Home Sukhalu.
“It is also worth mentioning that Sir Kitoho Rotokha, Proprietor, Spring Blossoms Academy Thahekhu Dimapur gave his all out help and advice in our project and also the different school principals in Zunheboto town who contributed a lot by waiving off the monthly fees of many students in their own school as part of their contribution in this project. Through this project, the club was able to help 142 students in total,” mentions the Club. The same year, reading materials and flower pots were also kept at different quarantine centers in Zunheboto town with the help of well wishers.
A continued contribution of the Green Club has been blood donation where members of the Club has been donating blood to the needy patients in Zunheboto for the past ten years with all expenses for the blood donors being borne by the club executives.
