Mar 24, 2020 / 17 SDGs

Y-East Monthly Meet-Ups in Darjeeling

In Febuary 2020, Y-East opened a new city chapter in Darjeeling, first chapter after and beyond Kolkata (and not the last)! We have partnered with the amazing Mukh Bandh Kaam Suru (MBKS) to implement our networking platform in the Queen of Hills and last Saturday witnessed together the first Y-East monthly meet-up in Darjeeling! It is hard to express what happened, like an air of local historic revolution to just simply gather socially and environmentally focused local organisations under the same roof, literally at our venue partner Glenary’s, whose doors have been kindly opened to Y-East and MBKS for the monthly meetups by owners and local leaders Ajoy and Namrata Edwards.

After Meghdut RoyChowdhury, Pauline Laravoire and Aparupa Datta presented Y-East, its ecosystem, its activities, and its ambitions, we were privileged to hear Mrs. Sashi Yonzon of Darjeeling Sewa Sangathan, Mrs. Helen Lepcha of Hayden Hall Institute, Mr. Sangay Bhutia of YellowBox, Ms. Prakriti Thami of Namaste Foundation, Mr. Suprabhat Sewa, Mr. Yuraj Pradhan of Scavengers, Mrs. Yangee Dukpa of OKC Monastery and Mr. Vishal Gurung of Tieedi, who introduced themselves and shared information about the great work they each are doing for the city.

Rahul Amulya Pradhan leading MBKS – and leading the movement! – spoke about the work that MBKS Trust had done in last three years and expressed the need for such a platform to come together to build a network locally and nationally as well. It is high time we find ways to put cities like Darjeeling back on the map for the impactful work and initiatives happening there, as well as to bring more resources, knowledge, opportunities and partnerships up there! Such meetups will now happen every month in Darjeeling and hopefully ignite collective momentum and action in a way that hasn’t been seen before for the locality.

We were also glad to know that the Y-East network gave birth to the idea of organising a Plogging Run for the first time in the Hills, and to the set up of an e-waste collection/management point coordinated between MBKS and Kolkata-based Y-East member Hulladek. That’s the spirit!

Thank you Darjeeling for the warm welcome, let’s keep up the good work!