Mokokchung Times Exclusive | February 4
Bendangienla Amri, professionally a counselor in Drug-resistant Tuberculosis (DRTB), Mokokchung, but a philanthropist by nature and an ardent lover of Mother Earth, hails from Changki Village. Her social media timeline is often paraded with love and appreciation from people she has helped and worked with, or campaigns she’s associated with, such as ‘Planting 10,000 and more Moringas’.
A lady, truly inspiring as her, is often rare to find as she holds back no punches in her role as an advocate for Mother Earth. She is currently the advisor for planting 10,000 and more Moringas in South East Asia and runs a group called “Nature, Pets’ Guardian” (NPG), an organization that works for environmental preservation and social welfare of animals.
Talking to Mokokchung Times, she opened up about her journey and how her enthusiasm have carried her this far.
“It was in 2020, under the leadership of my mentor, Dr Leban Serto, the Director of Center for Peace Education, Manipur, I kick-started a group called NPG Nagaland. It was also through him, the Moringa campaign, under NPG, got officially launched on 12 July, 2021. This campaign came as a dedication to the 22ndyear of Global Campaign for Peace Education (GCPE),” she said.
Aien elaborated that ever since the campaign was launched, NPG’s network has only strengthened and now, they have advisors from different countries like South Africa, USA, Malaysia, India, Israel and many more. NPG also provide awareness on how we can save our planet by planting more trees.
“Through this campaign, we create awareness on the benefits of kitchen gardens, and distribute seeds for the same. The pandemic and lockdown has rather helped us in successfully taking this initiative forward,” she recalls.
Fascinated by simple things such as a butterfly outside her house or an insect or the green stretches around her, Aien developed a fervent attachment with nature and identifies herself as an ardent Climate Justice Advocate.
Talking about the impact of Climate Change, she bemoans how Climate Change has hit hard even in Mokokchung. “We might have big buildings, cars, wealth and limitless facilities, but if our mother earth is sick, there’ll be a point in time where we’ll have no place to call a home,” she laments.
“Our earth is truly suffering, but human greed has blinded us to care for her,” she said, citing it as one of her many reasons to be an advocate of Mother Earth.“ I’m appalled at how we give our best to put off someone’s house on fire, but remain indifferent when it comes to caring for earth. Mother Earth is burning and is in need of intensive care,” she beseech, urging people to wake up.
Aien suggested that Mokokchung too can contribute in the fight against climate change by advocating responsible practices such as planting trees, turning off electrical appliances when not in use and shifting to prepaid meter reading as is done in Kohima and Dimapur, walking or cycling more and driving less, and genuinely avoiding the use of single-use plastics. She further recommends the citizens to adopt the ‘Three Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ in their lifestyles.
Finally, talking about the role of social media in her life, she is grateful for the platform it has provided to promote her concerns and create awareness at a large scale.