‘We were like siblings’ — how a skill training initiative inspired hope in 30 women from Manipur

The training in ‘Fragrance Formulations for Wellness Products’ was initiated under the mentorship of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee on Relief and Rehabilitation in Manipur headed by Justice Gita Mittal.

Chosen by the Manipur government, the women are 17 to 26 years in age and most are staying in relief camps in various districts of the state.

“The training focused on perfumery, but also included other topics. After the theory classes, we learned how to make hand sanitisers, shampoos, salting powder, lip balms, scented candles and agarbattis (incense sticks). We received hands-on training in all these skills,”  Kimhoiphal Vaiphei, a 21-year-old Kuki from Manipur’s Leilon village, told ThePrint.

Hindu College principal Anju Srivastava said the women were eager to participate and classes were also held on mental wellness, including meditation and activities to boost happiness.

“We engaged them in various activities. They held a talent show with dances, songs and more. We thoroughly enjoyed their company. We also organised both informal and formal games to bring back enjoyable aspects of life that they had been deprived of for a long time,” she told ThePrint.

Also Read: Manipur violence has a silent victim—broken marriages of Kuki-Meitei couples

‘Discussing curry, devoid of animosity’ 

All 30 women stayed together at hostels in Hindu College for three weeks, an experience which they said was novel for them.

“We didn’t talk about the conflict. We stayed like siblings, discussing ‘curry’ in Delhi and how it was different from what we have in Manipur,” Nigombam Sanatombi Chanu, a 23-year-old Meitei woman, told ThePrint over phone.

She has been living in a relief camp in Imphal West with six family members since fleeing Churachandpur following the start of ethnic clashes in Manipur in May last year.

The three weeks they were in Delhi proved to be not just a learning experience but also an opportunity to move past the rift between their communities and empathise with each other’s pain, said the women.

Kimhoipal said she had often felt guilty for enjoying the company of those she had considered “enemies”.

However, she realised that it wasn’t their fault, as everyone faced the same situation. The issue lay with the “community and the politics”, not with them, she explained.

“Honestly, I didn’t have any personal animosity. They might have thought we were enemies, and we might have thought the same, but I truly didn’t feel that way towards the (other) students. They faced the same challenges I did. It wasn’t our choice, so I didn’t have any hatred towards them,” she told ThePrint.

Brief respite from conflict

Apart from mental health sessions, the three-week programme featured sightseeing trips to landmarks like the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort in Agra, as well as talent shows which the women said they found “refreshing”.

They spoke about how they were forced to flee their homes with their families and their daily challenges and uncertainties while living in relief camps.

“The relief camp room where I am staying with my family is just a small hall where seven families reside. We don’t have a proper place to change clothes, so we make do with what we have. As women, it’s particularly challenging to manage these small but significant issues. We really need a solution,” said Nigombam, while explaining how crucial the training programme was for her and how eagerly she was looking forward to its proposed second phase.

Kimhoipal, who wants to help other women in the relief camp in her village with the training she has received in Delhi, fled Imphal last year after the conflict began.

She was studying tourism and hospitality management at Imphal College but had to abandon her course and return to her village when the ethnic clashes erupted, she said.

Her parents are paddy field farmers and she has a younger sister studying in Shillong. Kimhoipal said she cannot continue her education right now because it is not economically viable for her family to provide for both siblings’ educational expenses.

Not just her, but many of the women part of the initiative are unable to continue their education due to financial constraints and have high hopes from the programme. Its proposed second phase is to be held in Manipur as it will be more practical in nature.

Also Read: ‘Ignored & forgotten’ or ‘base of live insurgency’ — inside a Manipur SoO camp for Kuki insurgents

Taking initiative & the road ahead

According to Srivastava, Hindu College had submitted a proposal for the training programme to Justice Mittal. Following this, a meeting took place with the Manipur chief secretary and the committee. The initiative received approval in April and commenced in June, with college students participating as volunteers.

Bhuvana Nageshwaran, Director, Flavours and Fragrances, Ultra International, informed ThePrint that they funded the whole training programme with CSIR-CIMAP taking care of the women’s travel expenses. The Manipur government has been coordinating with the committee to assist with other necessary tasks.

The women visited CIMAP in Lucknow as part of their training and learned about aromatics and medicinal plants.

“The medicinal plants commonly grown in Lucknow are also found in Manipur, often growing by the roadside where people usually overlook their value. In Manipur, we thought they were useless and played with them during our childhood. However, in Lucknow, they preserve the plants nicely in small gardens. Only now we have realised that they are medicinal and aromatic plants. It was very new and exciting for us,” said Nigombam.

Nageshwaran told ThePrint that the company has offered jobs to some of the women willing to relocate to Delhi, and they have also submitted a proposal for the programme’s second phase to the Manipur government.

According to Kimhoiphal, all the women who underwent training in Delhi expressed a desire to train the young girls in their respective relief camps in making scented candles. They informed the programme authorities via video conference about their plan after they returned to Manipur, and they agreed to provide them with help in passing on their training. The women have also received assurance of support in marketing their products.

‘A chance to start over’

The Manipur government is undertaking skill development in seven districts of the state — Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Imphal East, Imphal West, Tamenglong and Kakching. An ongoing programme is a seven-week one that covers various aspects of hospitality services, such as food and beverage management, guest service, customer relations and front office operations.

“Internally displaced youth from relief camps throughout the state will have the chance to receive comprehensive training, with Primero Skills & Training Pvt Ltd serving as training partner along with the ministry of tourism,” Th. Kirankumar, district collector of Imphal East, told ThePrint.

The SC-appointed committee overseeing investigation, rehabilitation and relief efforts in Manipur is spearheading the initiatives.

According to Sandeep, a trainer from Primero Skills & Training Pvt Ltd, 51 candidates aged 18 to 40, including men and women, are participating in the seven-week programme. Of these, 11 are from Imphal East and 40 from Imphal West.

The training is being conducted at Manipur Technical University in two batches. Classes go on for five hours a day and include training and practical sessions. One trainer has been allotted per district. All candidates are from relief camps, except for two students who are living at home, he said.

“It is very important for me as it represents a chance to start over, especially since I lost my previous job and need to earn a living for my family,” said Babina, a 30-year-old living in a relief camp in Imphal West. She previously worked in sales at a start-up in Kantosabal, a village in the Imphal West district.

She too described the living conditions in relief camps as challenging, with five family members sharing a cramped space and a bathroom with another family.

Jayanta Das, Director of Primero Skills, told ThePrint that under the ministry of tourism’s Hunar Se Rozgar Tak initiative, they plan to train at least 2,000 students in Manipur.

He added that it was a strictly vocational skill training programme designed to help students secure sustainable jobs post certification. As of now, 300 students from all seven Manipur districts have enrolled in the inaugural phase of the initiative.

Ethnic clashes erupted in Manipur on 3 May last year. Governor Anusuiya Uikey said this February that the violence between the majority Meitei population and tribal Kuki-Zo communities had resulted in around 220 deaths and displaced 60,000 people so far.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

Also Read: 1 yr after Manipur violence, missing weapons, armed groups & extortion are keeping state ‘volatile’

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