Jayanta Majhi, who belongs to Odisha’s primitive tribe Dongaria Kandh and is a student of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), has been selected for the US Cultural Immersion Institute. It is a US Department of State Programme implemented by the Us World learning. Jayanta will travel to the US on May 31 and return on June 23.
He will attend workshops on leadership and global issues, complete a home-stay with a US family and visit US landmarks including Washington Monuments and the Statue of liberty. The US World learning will take full financial responsibility for Jayanta, who got this opportunity by achieving success in a subjective examination of the US Embassy.
Jayanta is the first Dongaria Kandh tribal student to visit the US from Odisha. He hails from a remote village Jira Gaon of lanjigarh block in Kalahandi district.
His father Gobind Majhi is a very poor man and depends on nearby forests for the family’s livelihood by collecting and selling forest produces. Due to financial hardship, Jayanta had left his study to help his father.
With the help of some people of the locality, Jayanta came to the KISS in 2008 and now he is in Class IX.
Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta said it is a matter of great pride for the KISS, the Dongaria Kandh community and Odisha to have a tribal student from the State visiting the US. Jayanta would interact with very important persons and promote the KISS and the tribal culture of Odisha in the US, he added.