Reforestation and self-help program for Adivasi (Assam/India)

In Jiagabhuro (Sonitpur District) live about 2,000-3,000 inhabitants. The huts and small houses are often widely spread out on the edge of a jungle-like area. On the only thoroughfare are a few small kiosks and a communication shop. There are some Hindu shrines and four small churches, including the Episcopal Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Himalayan countries.

Most residents are daily wage workers and live below the poverty line. There is work in the fields and in the tea plantations. Due to a military base in the neighboring village (Misamari), some people find work there, many commit themselves to military service. Due to the tense security situation in the state of Assam, the military base in this region offers some protection from insurgents and militias.

New Tarajuli is about 25km from Jiaghaburo. It is located on the edge of a large plantation of the world-famous Assam tea. About 100 people work on the private small tea plantations around the large plantation, mostly as day labourers or people who run their mini-plant as a family "business".

Uttar Nowgaon is a village of almost 200 inhabitants and is located about two hours away from Jiaghaburo in the north of Assam. Here live families who run a common village-owned tea plantation, which is located on the land of the local parish.

Many inhabitants are unemployed, some do not have a real roof over their heads, but only corrugated iron over bamboo sticks woven together. In all three villages there are state and partly private schools, which can be reached on foot. The children are preferably sent to private schools, as the state schools do not function well. The reforestation and self-help programme will:

– planted in the front gardens of about 200 families and on the edge of private tea plantations a variety of trees. Coconut palms, betel nut, bananas and lemon trees complement the biodiversity and ecological balance in a region that has experienced radical deforestation for decades.

– The fruits of the trees serve the food security of the disadvantaged Adivasi families. Income is generated by selling the fruit at the nearby market. School fees can be paid.

The reforestation programme promotes sustainable development goals in the field of nature conservation / climate protection and the participation of disadvantaged groups. Adivasi families earn income from the sale of their cultivated fruit, which is available for the education of their children. Good educational conditions are available at private schools in the immediate vicinity.

This special programme of reforestation of regional trees and perennials to provide food security for Adivasi families and to protect the environment and climate represents better living conditions for over 200 Adivasi families and their surroundings.