UnitingWorld is partnering with the Church of North India – Diocese of Eastern Himalaya to support a tea plantation community in India’s Darjeeling region. A community of 190 people are still recovering from a plantation closure that stripped them of income, housing and food security overnight.
With few transferable skills and increasingly severe climate impacts, including heavy rains, landslides and soil erosion, families have struggled to rebuild their livelihoods.
Senior Project Officer Rose Donovan recently facilitated a four-day consultation and planning workshop with Diocese staff and community members to design a project to help people adapt to the changing climate and find alternative incomes.
“The community took us on a very intimate walk, showing us how they grow their food, their water sources and the landslides scattered throughout the area, and welcoming us into their homes,” said Rose. “They shared their goals and dreams fortheir community, each family longing to shape their own future.”
The Diocese has already employed a local woman as field officer. She had been planning to migrate more than three hours away in search of work, but can now stay and serve her own community.
Over the next three years, our partners will be helping families through climate resilient farming, improved livestock management and access to markets, as well as vocational training and career guidance for young people. They will also be working with the entire community on a disaster preparedness plan, including building awareness on drainage issues, good land management and how to reduce landslide risks.
Diocese Program Manager Sanjay Khaling said, “the community is enthusiastic about working together, and while it is a huge learning process,they are ready to get started.”