The team aims to explore the impacts of hydroelectricity projects on the tourism industry in Sikkim; while the projects will bring in revenue for the state to improve on its infrastructure, the construction of the dams will bring about negative impacts on the environment as well as the local culture. The degradation of the environment is irreversible and there is a possibility that tourists will no longer visit Sikkim if the destruction on environment continues.

In our time in Sikkim, we spoke to many people; amongst them are the village head of Yuksam, an Australian tourist, a Canadian Tibetology expert, and Lepcha protesters against the dam projects. Currently the team is back in Singapore doing post-production and we hope that our documentary will be able to highlight the challenges which the projects brought to Sikkim.

Doc Team @ Work

First, we had to rediscover the computer ourselves, to understand and convey concepts such as folder creation and program windows.  It is interesting how we take these things for granted and go through the motions so easily and unthinkingly.  It is only when we try to explain these ideas that they seem so artificial and unnatural.

Also, the session was rather impromptu, declared a mere half-hour after our initial discussion with the school.  We rose to the challenge, however, and our training was well-received by the students.  We experienced some hiccups during a few software demonstrations, and should definitely practice more before future sessions.

On the whole, we found the experience really enriching.  It was very encouraging and rewarding watching the students light up at new possibilities.  Also, while trying to convince students of the computer’s utility, we got down to the essence of information and technology.  This parallels our broader experience in Yuksam, of rediscovering and appreciating the bare beauty and necessities of life.

As part of our project, we will be setting up an Internet corner to aid KCC’s research and outreach efforts, and bring greater information access to the local community.

Backgrounder – Considerations and Challenges

Yuksam is no stranger to computers or the internet.

The Indian Government has set up 40 Community Information Centres (CICs) across Sikkim, each equipped with computers, internet service (satellite) and printers.  Yuksam has one such centre.

The CIC programme, though well-intentioned and careful to nurture local ownership, has had mixed results.  A UNDP article points out that the centres are frequently under-utilised and poorly-maintained.

With that in mind, we know we must get creative to avoid the pitfalls of the CIC programme:

1) We have to contextualise our training not just to Yuksam, but to her different occupations and ages.  As such, we will be observing the various groups and shaping our foundation materials accordingly.

2) We must make it easy to maintain and expand the systems and program.  We were always mindful of this, from sourcing computers (brand should be well-represented in India for easy support) to choosing software.  Additionally, all KCC members are volunteers (they have day jobs), and should not be spending too much time fixing computer problems.

Additionally, it is tricky getting internet access in Yuksam.

1) Satellite internet is much too expensive

2) The local telephone exchange did not support landline broadband

This pretty much left us with long-range wireless connections like GPRS/3G/CDMA.

KCC was especially helpful in identifying the local operators and technologies.

Interesting technologies

We adopted some special technologies to address these concerns:

1) SMC Wireless Hotspot Gateway

SMC Wireless Hotspot, Ticket Printer and Switch

This device lets KCC share the internet connection securely and bill users (it has a ticket printer) for timed usage, much like an internet cafe.

Many thanks to SMC Asia for sponsoring such a cool device!

2) Fatbox GPRS Router

The Fatbox behaves like a cellphone, just without a screen, keypad, battery or speaker.  Ok, so how is it a celphone?

Well, it takes a regular SIM card (your phone has one too!), connects to the phone service provider, and shares the mobile internet service (GPRS).

Many thanks to Wayne from Plant & Mill for helping us set up the device!

3) Windows SteadyState

This free software maintains a particular “state” of your computer, and reverts to it after each restart, unless you tell it otherwise.

In effect, this means that your computer will always remain fresh and uninfected. We hope that this will keep the computers secure, fast and easy to maintain even after we’ve left.

Many, many thanks!

There’s much more to be done, and we’d like to thank our dear friends for taking these steps with us:

• SMC-Asia: Charlene, Hong Yee & Friends
• Plant & Mill: Wayne & Stanley
• AddOnSystems: Phyllis, Janice & Friends

When I first saw the building that we were suppose to convert into a heritage centre, I was really lost for words because it was really old and run down.

The Heritage Centre (Before):

The wall paint was falling out, the rooms looked really old and dusty and there was no proper furniture or lightning whatsoever.

The challenge to convert this old abandoned quarter which was rumoured to be haunted even really posed as a huge obstacle to overcome for our team.

However with the effectiveness and creativity of a really great team and also with tremendous help from volunteers from KCC (the NGO we were working with). We as a team amazingly managed to convert that old run down building into a really beautiful heritage centre.

The Heritage Centre (after):

All of this would not have been possible without all the hard work that our entire team put in during our stay in Yuksam and our commitment to the cause of making a difference in the lives of the Yuksam community.

“Creative director” Jiunn hard at work.

Working hard to get the walls painted.

Major repairs being carried out.

The team hard at work.

The local kids getting in on some of the fun too!

The 3 “J”s!

In the end, this heritage centre will go a long way to benefiting the local community as it will be an avenue to showcase their culture and unique heritage to tourist.

In addition, the heritage centre will also be used by the Yuksam Government Secondary School to educate their younger generation on their culture and history.

Most importantly, the income that the heritage centre generates through entrance fees collected from Tourist will go back to the School and be used to build more infrastructures for the school. This in turn will benefit the children by giving them better facilities to enhance their educational experience.

Overall, it was a team effort and everyone did their part to contribute to its success, this one small project showcases how as a group of students we can unite together and make a real difference in a community that majority of us have never seen or met before.

If I were given the chance to repeat the process again, there wouldn’t be a chance I would refuse it. Sure, I have learnt so much from designing the guidebook. The landmarks, hotel rates, food and even festivals were all part of the contents in the guidebook.  I guess I probably could get a job as a travel guide in Yuksam after this project.

The guidebook was done to help give information to travellers about Yuksam. The content was simple and easy to read with well designed illustrations. I felt that it was a wonderful idea that the book would be made available to tourists at stands for free. When I was around Yuksam, I realized that there were not alot of places that offered information or brochures to inform tourists of Yuksam as a whole. I feel that our contribution to Yuksam will actually boost and promote Yuksam as a tourism spot. Most of the times, people will not know the meanings and reasons why people do what they do. And i have learnt from the content in the guidebook that it will explain things in a very easy to understand way. Furthermore, if the guidebook turns out to be a success, more of these books will be printed. We actually laid a foundation for something big.

However successful it is, we did have some setbacks. First of all, we had trouble obtaining information to be put inside the guidebook. And as such, we couldn’t prepare contents during the pre-expedition. Secondly, we had a little difficulty in getting hold of pictures to be inserted inside the guidebook. In the end, we had to go over to the places and take these photos. The last major problem we had was with the formatting of the guidebook. In order to print it out, we had to make our format compatible with the printer’s format. It proved to be pretty troublesome because we had to re-adjust the lines for every page.

In general, the people at KCC were more than helpful with helping us with the information we had. If there were any errors with the content, they would tell us in a very nice and polite way.  In addition, I can still remember the moment I got my hands on the actual hardcopy brochure. It felt that all the had work paid off.

Recently, myself and a couple of teammates were simply strolling along the roads and we caught a bunch of kids dancing outside a house. Being curious, we approached the family outside the house and asked them about the occasion. They were celebrating their baby’s first month! They immediately invited us over and asked us to join in the celebrations.

Here are some pictures from the spontaneous adventure we had!

This just goes to show how friendly and warm the people of Yuksam are. Unlike cities in general where people are generally less friendly to tourists and visitors, Yuksam has a family atmosphere. Everyone here can expect to see smiles from almost every house along the road and smiles from the children. Even the dogs here act like guardians who follow you around wherever you go! Being a dog lover, I simply love this place.

More updates on interesting experiences coming up in the next few posts!

- Krithika

I have two of the best parents in the whole wide world and the 3 most amazing siblings any boy could have. My dad is a chef who cooks for tourists who come to visit Yuksam and my mum’s a housewife who takes care of the household and runs a little shop in front of our home that sells groceries. My younger brother is in kinder-garden and my two elder sisters are studying in Yuksam’s government school. Our family is a very closed knitted one and we share almost everything with each other.

Although we do not have the modern technologies of the internet or cable television, life here in Yuksam is still very joyful. We have a very small and united community where almost everyone knows each other and we live in the backdrop of beautiful mountains and forests. The pace of life here is slow and very peaceful and I love my little village very much.

This morning I woke up at 5.30am to the smell of mummy cooking momos for breakfast, (yes we start the day very early here in Yuksam) and the sun usually rises around this time especially now that we are in the winter season. I decided to help mummy today with some of the household chores since daddy has to work early and I start school only at 9.30am.

After collecting the chicken eggs and feeding the pig and goats, (yup we do rear our own cattle and livestock here in Yuksam), I decided to follow daddy to work since I still had some time before I had to make my way to school.

So together, daddy and I made our way to KCC where daddy is working as a chef to a group of SMU students who are here on an overseas community service project. As we entered KCC, I found most of the students still asleep, so we quietly made our way into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.

These Singaporeans really do sleep a lot and some of them make really funny snoring noises. J They are really nice people though who like to ask a lot of questions and they never seem to stop wanting to take pictures of almost anything. I like some of them because they talk to me, play games like five stones with me and even show me cool card tricks and allow me to play pinball on their laptops.

After helping daddy prepare breakfast and cleaning up the dirty dishes, I slowly made my way to school. Today’s the second last day of school and I have two months of school holidays coming up after this. Cannot wait for it to start cause then I’ll be able to play all the soccer and cricket that I want to with my friends.

School was very slack today, all we did was have assembly in the morning and listen to the principal give his usual morning speech. After that we went to class and our teacher gave us back our final examination results, I was quite happy when I received my results as I did quite well. I realize that education is very important especially if I want to build a future for me and my family and that is why I want to study hard and do as well as I can to make my parents proud.

The usual village-wide power outage happened just before lunch today, this phenomenon happens a couple of times a day even sometimes here in Yuksam and we need to make do with a couple of hours without electricity until the power comes back on.

From my classroom, I could see the group of SMU students working on the opposite heritage centre that they’re helping my school to design and built. They looked busy at work, painting the walls and sandpapering the furniture. Once completed, the centre will be a place where we the people of Yuksam can display our culture and heritage to the tourist and also use as a place to help educate the next generation of the beauty of Yuksam and its history.

Lunch which is given free to us by the school was good today and after lunch we were dismissed as we had no classes today because it’s the second last day of school. I made my way home thus to help mummy run the grocery shop in the afternoon and also helped her with some chores like carrying firewood, watering the plants and milking the cow. J

Spent the late afternoon playing with my siblings, we did the usual; badminton. My sisters got bored after a while, so they decided to go and play “house/cooking” with the other girls. My younger brother too was getting restless, so we headed to the soccer field that’s in front of my school block to join some of the other kids for a game of soccer.

By the time the game ended it was about 5.30 and the sun was beginning to set, so I headed over to KCC to see how dad was doing. When I reached KCC, I found daddy preparing dinner for the SMU students, so I headed outside to the hall to see what I could do to entertain myself.

Some of the SMU students were really nice and they talked to me and even showed me how to play pinball on their computers. I spend the night having dinner with them and left with daddy at around 8plus.

That’s a typical for a kid like me here in Yuksam. Life is simple and that what makes me love this little village of mine so very much.

- Written by: Jeremy

Here is a picture of myself with Wangda!

Myself with Wangda!

From what we heard, the water level has been getting lower, and flow is also slower now as some water from the river is diverted from the river to the dam. Tourist numbers are declining and rafting operators are protesting, but the dam looks like it’s here to stay. If business keeps getting worse, the operators really don’t know what they’ll do.

This led us to wonder about the situation in Yuksam. Currently, Yuksam still has most of its rustic charm (they tried to have a big hydroelectric project at Rathongchu, but it was terminated after much protest) but it’s really sobering to see how fragile the environment can be. Currently, more than 50% of the population in Yuksam is somehow involved in the tourism industry, so balancing tourism growth and conservation of the environment is really crucial to the people’s livelihood. As a small town, Yuksam cannot support mass tourism without frantic construction or bringing large numbers of immigrants from the plains of India, and the locals know this well as they to keep the tourism on an eco-friendly scale. Although short term gains are less due to the low volume of visitors, at least it can be kept sustainable, and the beautiful scenery will still be around for generations later to enjoy.

Jason, a backpacker we just met from Australia, told us that he really loves Yuksam despite some inconveniences such as inconsistent electricity and lack of hot showers. Granted, some tourists would like to have a more pampering experience and the driving would be safer if the roads were better, but what makes Yuksam special is the beautiful scenery and kind people. Other comforts are secondary to those who really seek a holiday from the hustle and bustle of the city. Even to the locals of Sikkim, Yuksam is like an “altar” to the gods of nature and holds a special place in their hearts.

Development and better amenities would make life easier for everyone, but as even the tourists would agree, not at the expense of the wealth nature has bestowed Yuksam.

– Feiya

I love Momo the most!! All the better if there’s nice chilli sauce to go along with it! Since I love Momo so much, I jumped at the chance to learn how to make them during homestay! Well, Momos are rather similar to the Chinese dumplings we have. They are prepared by stuffing mincemeat, vegetable or cheese in flour dough and then moulding them in the form of a dumpling. The folding requires very delicate fingers and skills. My momos were obviously not as pretty as the experienced host’s. Oh well, as long as they are edible! It’s good enough!

Another popular dish is Pakora! They are Alvin’s all-time favourite! You should see how his eyes light up whenever he sees Pakoras being served! Pakoras are made from mixing ingredients such as onion, spinach, chilli or tomato in a batter of flour and then deep frying them. We also tried making them during the homestay! They were yummy!

Meals are occasionally accompanied with Chang, the traditional Sikkimese warm beer. Chang is made by fermenting millet using yeast and is sipped from a bamboo or wooden container using a bamboo pipe. It’s pretty cool! Apparently, almost every household here ferment their own Chang at home and keep them in the storeroom, only taking it out on special occasions or to entertain guests.

Here are some pictures:

It is believed that in 1642, three great monks from Tibet came to Sikkim via North, South and West gates and met at Yuksam. In fact, Yuksam means “Meeting place of the Three Learned Ones” in the Lepcha language. These three monks- Gyalwa Lhatsun Chempo, Gnadak Sempa Chempo, and Kathok Rikzing Chempo, consecrated Phuntshog Namgyal, from the east direction of Sikkim, as the first Dharma Raja. Evidence of the coronation ceremony can still be found at the Norbugang throne, which has been declared a heritage site. Buddhism was introduced into Sikkim with the establishment of the first Buddhist monastery at Dubdi near Yuksam and was a State Religion until Sikkim became a part of India in 1975. Yuksam is therefore important as the starting point of Sikkimese history.

As Mt. Khangchendzonga and the area surrounding it is considered sacred, Yuksam is considered to be a Lhakhang, or altar, for offerings to the Khangchendzonga deities.