Although born into a humble family of the Sumi indigenous tribe and fourth among nine siblings, NK Keny set her sights on getting an education. She ended up with a double Masters and founding the Naga Alliance for Children and Women Rights — an organisation that acts against domestic violence.
In 2007, I bought a plot in Dimapur with my savings. There, I constructed a home for orphans and poor children. Currently, there are about 100 children in Love Care Home.
Keny has also set up an orphanage, named ‘Love Care Home’, where children are given elementary to higher education and taught vocational skills such as organic farming and handicraft.
Her journey is a story of determination, strong self-belief and hardship.
Keny hails from the village of Alaphumi in Nagaland. After losing her father at a young age, she would toil with her mother at their farm to make ends meet. Nonetheless, she kept attending a village school, ultimately becoming the first in her village to complete class XII. Keny eventually completed her post graduation with degrees in theology, arts and philosophy.
She funded not only her own education, but that of several other children, by making handicraft. “I had a nurturing instinct for children all along, as I would look after my younger siblings,” recalls Keny. “After graduation, I supported the education of seven children with the money I was earning from my handicraft.”
“In 2007, I bought a plot in Dimapur with my savings. There, I constructed a home for orphans and poor children. Currently, there are about 100 children in Love Care Home,” she says.
With several of these children she supported now having started their own micro-enterprises and a few having even generated employment for others, Keny has reason enough to be proud of herself.
