Imphal,15 Jan 2011: The village folks of L. Thinglhangphai village in Chandel District, Manipur got cracking right from the early morning. With no much infrastructure, no donor, a few teaching staff and a lot of faith, Zion Country School was dedicated to the Lord on 15 January, 2011. The bash was given no much publicity save a round of loud-speaker announcement to the neighbouring residents. But the grace of God brought considerable Chiefs and well-wishers of the newly-announced rural learning centre.

The Motivation: In this age of fast-paced globalization, the fertile Serou valley in Manipur, North-East India had been left far behind in education and development. The residents in the localities of Serou who are sandwiched by the meandering Chakpi river and the calmer Imphal river, can ill-afford to send their wards to attend better schools in the bigger towns. The existing schools in the area could not deliver quality education due to economic liabilities to clear monthly tuition fees in time. All these factors and an innate desire to lift up the lot of the country-shire where I was born and brought up made me take up the burdensome task of starting a school. What is life without a little bit of risk?

The Dedication: A skeleton teaching staff, Thangpi, Thangjamang, Hoijem, Paocha, Thongkhogin and Onkhogin, all from the locality, had been roped in to teach from Nursery to Standard V. Dimhoithem will take care of the cleaning work. They had been dedicated to take classes from the second week of February this year. Rev. Yanglet Touthang prayed for and blessed them. The teachers will be given proper training before ZCS begin the academic session.

The Message. The ZCS bash had a mixed crowd. For the benefit of those who could not follow Thadou dialect, I spoke in Manipuri with a smattering of Hindi here and there that my Nepali audience may not feel neglected. A whole lot of the educational setbacks of the neighbourhood had been addressed. Once again, I made clear to all that education is the debt owed by the present generation to the next. What we sow we reap in the future and the fruit is already squeezed in the seed. Proper education helps in its growth.The be-all and end-all of launching the learning centre is to bring home the modules of global education to local students at an affordable price.

Th Well-Wishers: Some of the surrounding Chiefs like Mr. Hemkhopao Haokip of K. Molnom. Mr. Ngamkhojam of Vangkho, a Manipuri brother from Serou, Rev. Y. Touthang of Y. Thingkangphai, a Aepali well-wisher from Serou no. 3, Mr. Thangthong of Vangkho and Mr. Thangpi expressed their happiness in having a Christian English-medium school within one's easy reach. The Pastor of V. Haipijang pronounced the benediction. A simple dinner was served to the invitees before the bash concluded in a joyous note.


ZION COUNTRY SCHOOL ANTHEM

Motto: Learn, Serve and Shine

1.Eve sank; and men could no more discern,
We thank God for leading us to learn;
The world has things in it as He wills,
The head can think and feel as He fills;
When every soul is filled with the Word,
The whole will joy in will of the Lord.

We sing praise from the core of our hearts
To Him who created heaven and earth;
At Zion Country School, we come to seek
What we know not, but will make us peak;
With faith in Him, let us feed the mind,
That by it, we may learn, serve and shine.

2.Life is hard and slow in country-shire,
Poor kids live low and play in the mire;
Hi-tech learning’s a far dream for us,
With no-tech, we’ll take the odds to task;
Making “Joy in the Lord” our sole verve,
We’ll aim high to be on par and serve.

3.The world is like a global village,
We get our lot in a local place
But trust Thee for glory and splendour;
Them that honour Thee Thou will honour;
We all pray to Thee O God most kind,
Bless and help us to Learn, serve and shine.

~ Lunminthang Haokip