Kohima Old Age Home celebrates 11 years of love and care to the elderly
Our Correspondent
Kohima | August 1
In the sunset of their lives, twenty-two elderly persons, who otherwise would have been deprived of love and comfort, are receiving all the love, care, support and enjoying a dignified life at the Kohima Old Age Home (KOAH). On Monday, as KOAH celebrated its 11th foundation day, the 22 residents had more reason to be jubilant and grateful.
On the occasion, the elderly, in poignant words, expressed happiness over their stay in the Home adding, “We are getting love and care support and enjoying a comfortable atmosphere.”
In KOAH, each day, the members have time for work, thanksgiving prayer, recreation, devotional service and others. Since most of the members are from agricultural background, they are all hard working and skilled in gardening, bamboo craft work etc. Though they are aged, they are passionate to live up with dignity of labour.
Pioneered by Neithonuo Liegise, KOAH, with its motto “Into the sunset with dignity” was established in 2005 under the aegis of Good Samaritan Women Society. First located at D. Block in 2005, then to IG road, the KOAH is now permanently located at below New High Court, Meriema.
The Home was started as a voluntarily institution, based on charity to support and aid the needy old citizens in Nagaland.
Neithonuo Liegiese, Managing Director of KOAH said the vision and aim of Old Age Home is to provide shelter, quality health care, nutrition among the others.
“We treat them as our own parents,” she said.
“We have to give love and respect to senior citizens. We must help them to live quality life.”
Neithonuo urged those who are not taking care of their parents to come forward and provide quality of life to them. She said the Home provides love, care, proper nutrition, proper clothing, which ultimately make them grand look and respected.
Meanwhile, she informed that construction of kitchen, dining hall, water supply and electricity connection are immediate requirement of KOAH as of now.
‘We all want to live in dignity and die in dignity’
“In this old age home, many apparently unfortunate yet truly fortunate aged people are finding both physical comfort and spiritual joy in the sunset of their lives,” Kelei Zeliang, Secretary, Rural Development, Government of Nagaland who graced the foundation day as special guest stated.
“We all want to live in dignity and die in dignity. However, it is very difficult to avail this opportunity in this unkind world. I am glad to see that the inmates of Kohima Old Age Home live in dignity and die in dignity,” he said.
Appreciating Neithonuo, who has been running this charitable Home as a faith venture and a mission of God’s calling over a decade, he said “The most important requirement of our life in this world is comfort, for which we all look for it. However, Neithonuo had chosen to work for the comfort of others leaving behind her own comfort and the comfort of the family.”
Neithonuo has been tirelessly rendering her service for the last 11 years to rescue and safeguard the old, needy and the helpless.
KOAH’s vision
The vision is to provide and promote quality geriatric care with pleasant and secure environment, to support them to entire with dignity and encourage them to complete their life journey peacefully.
Their objective includes; creating pleasant and secure environment for the residents, provide quality health care for their physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs, to ensure proper nutrition and health care, to protect senior citizens’ rights, to organize spiritual programmes and activities for their spiritual growth etc.
The Home also encourages active and productive ageing; provide family counseling to elderly, who suffered abuse. Admission priority is for senior citizens above 60 years of age from across Nagaland belonging to disadvantaged sections. The Home is also for those who are childless, neglected and or has none to attend to them.
