25 years of women’s empowerment and community service, with Aonglar Elderly Care Home as a key initiative
The Aonglar Women Welfare Society (AWWS) marked its silver jubilee at the Aonglar Elderly Care Home in Sungratsu village on November 5, celebrating 25 years of work in community welfare, women’s empowerment and elderly care.
Established on May 16, 2001, by five women from Sungratsu, the society has grown to 25 members and undertaken several initiatives to support vulnerable sections of society.
Sungratsu Village Council chairman S. Bendang Aier praised the members for their commitment to community service and urged the public to support the society in strengthening and expanding its humanitarian work.
Speaking on behalf of the spouses of AWWS members, Toshitsungba Aier, IPS (Retired), said the church’s mission should extend beyond evangelism and preaching to include humanitarian initiatives such as elderly care and de-addiction centres. He urged the community to regard the Aonglar Elderly Care Home as a charitable institution belonging to the people and contribute towards its upkeep.
He also highlighted the social and cultural barriers that discourage families from placing elderly relatives in care homes, observing that senior citizens often need companionship that families may not always be able to provide.
Bendang Lemtur, IPS (Retired), suggested developing the care home into a self-sustaining project, as it currently depends on donations and members’ contributions. He also proposed inducting more like-minded women and expanding the society’s activities to other towns and cities.
The jubilee sermon was delivered by Dr T. Chujang Aier, president of the International Evangelistic Fellowship, on the theme “Conditional Love.”
Among its major initiatives, AWWS donated 15 units of CGI sheets to the ‘Nagaland for Christ’ Prayer Home at Naga United Village, Chümoukedima, in 2001. From 2008 to 2021, it sponsored a counsellor at Sarasadem Mitsa Prayer Home in Sungratsu and provided initial kitchen utensils and household items for the centre. In 2011, it also launched a piglet-rearing livelihood project, extending financial assistance to 25 women.
The Aonglar Elderly Care Home was inaugurated on January 18, 2014, and shifted to its permanent building in 2019 on land donated by the Sungratsu Village Council. Its construction was supported through fundraising by society members and subsequent Central government funding. Twenty residents have stayed at the home at different times.
Since 2015, AWWS has organised monthly day-care programmes for senior citizens, supported by members and well-wishers. It has also conducted free annual health camps for the elderly since 2011. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the society extended financial assistance to 16 needy individuals in the village and supported the Kohima Old Age Home.
In October 2021, in collaboration with the Good Samaritan Women Society of Kohima, AWWS organised an awareness programme on the national Elderline helpline. It was subsequently selected as the official partner for the National Helpline for Senior Citizens in Mokokchung district.
More recently, an 80-member gathering of senior citizens attended a Holy Spirit programme at the care home on July 21, 2026.
The society reaffirmed its commitment to community welfare, women’s empowerment and the care of senior citizens as it marked 25 years of service.
