Christian and NGO Leaders Held Meeting in Hakha

13 September 2011: In an effort to forge communication and strengthen collaboration, 22 representatives of 17 Chin Christian churches, organizations and NGOs held a consultancy meeting for two days in Hakha, Chin State last week.

The meeting organised by the Gaia Sustainable Management (GSM) taking place on 7-8 September had a series of discussions over issues including how to improve coordination and understanding among organizations and to develop human resources locally.

During the two-day discussion at the meeting room of Hakha Baptist Church, two key speakers, Thet Nai, Network Coordinator, and Ohnmar Shwe, Project Manager, from GSM in Rangoon were invited to give presentations on consultancy, management and organizational skills, followed by a group evaluation.

One of the local participants told Chinland Guardian: “It was a very good and useful meeting. We had different sessions including training on organizational skills, networking, discussions and making plans and evaluations. And most of the people are experienced individuals in their areas.”

The participants are from GRET (Groupe de Recherche et d’exchange Technologiques), Chinland Media Network, Community Association for Rural Development (CARD), Country Agency for Rural Development(CAD),  Shalom Foundation, Hakha Youth Fellowship, Service for the Poor, Disabled Children Development Program (Kalay), Komaing Credit Union (Kalay), Tedim Town Baptist Youth Union (Tedim), Thantlang Association of Baptist Churches (Thantlang), Credit Organization for Rural Development (Kalaymyo), YMCA, Myanmar Council of Churches Malaria (Thantlang), Zomi Theological College (Falam), Falam Baptist Association (Falam), and Chin Association for Christian communication (Hakha).

Earlier this month, the government of Chin State met with a total of 25 Burmese representatives from 21 development and humanitarian agencies working for Chin State and Kalay District in a closed-door meeting at the Parliament Building.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang