Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | July 3
There is something special about wooden houses especially for the warmth that it emanates and the naturally healthy living environment that it provides. Wooden houses are rare nowadays but constructing them means livelihood for Pachou Sheu, who hails from Thangnokniu- a village that falls under Myanmar bordering Nagaland.
He belongs to Khiamniungan tribe and spent his childhood in Noklak after which he moved to Kohima and studied at GMS, Kohima village. Later, he finished his high school from Zion School in Tuli and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from Kohima Bible College. He also served as the Chaplain of Eastern Naga Fellowship in Kohima for a period of 3 years and further pursued M. Div in Yangon.
Pachou Sheu came back to Kohima in 2014 and has ever since been involved in different kinds of woodwork and more extensively, building wooden houses. His association with woodwork however goes a long way back even as he recalls working on doors, windows, tables, cupboards, etc as a teenager. “I was waiting for my class 10 results and I spent my holidays creating these wooden products,” he says while adding that “I used to earn Rs. 60 then.”
Every vacation that followed in the later years, he invested his time and energy in learning and earning from woodworks. “It also helped me a lot in my studies because I could buy books with the money I earned,” he puts across. In the course of his journey as a builder, he clearly remembers the time he built their home back in the village as well as the Pastor Quarter and the church office.
Wooden houses, he says, are economically viable. He also observes that people have land here but do not have enough money for bigger construction, and therefore, opt for tin or wooden houses. In the last few years, he has done more of building wooden or tin houses including repairing. He has been instrumental in building at least 7-8 houses in the last one year period. The self taught builder has also definitely grown with experience. “One of the challenges in woodwork is that you have to first visualize the product in your mind- consider the size, imagine it before you start the actual work,” he enlightens.
But it is not just the livelihood aspect that drew him to woodwork. He confesses that he immensely enjoys the entire process of making any wood related product. “There is so much joy in carpentry. Even if you are doing it all the time, you keep learning…there is something new that I learn from each product that I make and the happiest moment for me is to see the final product,” he puts across.
*Year of Construction Workers (YOCW) is a joint program of the Government of Nagaland in partnership with YouthNet, Zynorique and the Department of Labour & Employment, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
