OAD Projects Final Report – 2018 Projects are requested to complete this online form instead of submitting a PDF report. The form allows us to standardize data collection as well as obtain very specific information. We will use this data to derive the impact of projects, which is important to show OAD's funding agencies.

Read our guidelines at: http://www.astro4dev.org/funded-projects/report-guidelines/

If a question is not applicable, please fill in 'NA'.

Email address *: [email protected]

1. Your Name *: Sonal Asgotraa

2. Project title *: Astronomy for Himalayan Livelihood Creation

3. Project abbreviation *: AHLC

4a. Location of project activities *: of ,

4b. Location of project activities * In addition to the country and city, please provide some background on the specific location of the intervention to help us understand why you chose that location. Example, a remote area with socio- economic challenges, area with indigenous populations, urban area with high economic inequalites etc.

Region Overview: Ladakh

Ladakh ("land of high passes") is a region of north India in the state of Jammu and (J&K), which currently extends from the KuenLun mountain range to the great Himalayas in the south, inhabited by people of both Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir, with its culture and histories are closely related to that of the Tibet region. Ladakh is located at an altitude ranging between 2900m and 5900m. This makes it one of the most elevated and coldest inhabited regions of the world. The winter temperatures drop to as low as -300C., with most areas becoming inaccessible due to heavy snowfall. The region itself cannot be accessed from October to May as the two main highways connecting the region with the rest of the country get blocked due to heavy snow. The only way to access the region is then by air transport. It is a mountainous region with most villages inhabited along Shayok, Siachen, and Indus rivers, which flow between (3) three parallel ranges of the Western Himalayas- Zanskar, Ladakh, and the Karakorum ranges. The Ladakh district is mainly divided into – 3 subdivisions (Khaltse, , ) – 3 Tehsils (, Khaltse, Sumur) – 9 Blocks (Leh, Chhuchot,Kharu, , , , Nyoma, Khaltse, and Saspol) Most Ladakhis are Tibetan in origin, and majority of them are Buddhists. A small population comprises of Muslims and a fraction of population comprises of Christians and Hindus. Barley and wheat are the traditional crops. The region is known for its Pashmina goats, the wool from which is used to make woolen clothes for export purpose. The main occupation and livelihood of the people are: tourism, handicrafts, agriculture, and government jobs. The region has a round 150 remote villages that do not have access to electricity. These villages lay at an average trek distance of 4-5 days from the nearest motorable roads. Due to the inhospitable terrain, the development of these villages has thus been very limited.

5. Project team * for each member, please include name, educational qualification, current profession, role in team

Paras Loomba (Delhi/Leh): Founder / CEO Paras is the founder of GHE and looks after the business implementation and technology development. Having a strong background in Electronics, he works on creating innovative technological solutions that are being implemented by GHE. Gaurav Gaur (Pune / Leh): Mountain Homestays Leader Gaurav leads the mountain homestay initiative and is responsible for setting up homestays in the villages electrified by GHE and subsequently create a market linkage for these homestays Tsering Dorjay (Leh): Logistics and Operations Dorjay provides the on-ground logistical support for project implementations Sonal Asgotraa (Delhi/Leh): Communications Manager / AHLC Project Lead As the AHLC Project lead, I am responsible for working with various stakeholders for project implementation, developing internal and external collaborations and managing overall project execution. 6. Summary of final report (for website) * You have already submitted a Summary in the proposal. Here we request a Summary of what happened - please include objectives, activities, results and outcomes. More details will be requested in the sections below.

Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) is an organization based in Ladakh, India providing clean energy and education access to remote off-grid communities in Himalayas. Electricity has acted as a powerful tool to stimulate economic empowerment and create new streams of revenue generation for this region. With a vision to leverage astronomy as a key development intervention in Ladakh, GHE’s new initiative - Astronomy for Himalayan Livelihood Creation (AHLC) with support from International Astronomical Union – Office of Astronomy for development (IAU-OAD) aims to stimulate economic growth for these remote villages in a sustainable and scalable manner by creating Astro-homestays.

In Phase-1 of AHLC, 30 women from 15 different villages of Ladakh were selected for an astronomy workshop in June this year and trained on basics of astronomy and know-how of operating Dobsonian telescopes. Ladakh’s first Astro-homestay has been setup near Pangong lake in the village of Maan where a team of 5 trained community members use their astronomy skills to conduct night sky watching sessions for the incoming tourists. The telescope facility has attracted a lot of tourists in the region and created a new economic opportunity for the community. Till date over 680 people have visited the facility in the last three months since the installation, earning more than USD 1410 for the local community.

Astrostay Board for promotion of the Homestays for Tourists in Ladakh at 14000 ft

A second telescope has been installed in the city of Leh and hosted by PAGIR – an organization working with specially-abled people of Ladakh for their capacity building and inclusion into mainstream. GHE has partnered with PAGIR to promote inclusive Astro-tourism – PAGIR’s 5 member team trained on astronomy and telescope operations are now conducting night viewing sessions for the tourists creating a new channel of revenue generation for the organization.

Participants being trained at the Astronomy Workshop in Leh

AstroStay Setup in Village Maan: Installation of telescope and Board Set up for promotion

Communal Bank Account for the Village Maan Astrostay Revenue

Astro-Café Setup at PAGIR, Leh

Visitors at Astro-Café Audience & Activities 7 a. Total number of people reached *

38 people including 30 women have been trained as part of the AHLC project so far. S.No: Participant Name Location 1 Stanzin Gurmet Rumtse 2 Tashi Gaipo Sriyul 3 Tsetan Youtan Changlung 4 Phurbu Dolma Sriyul 5 Tsering Dolkar Sriyul 6 Stanzin Dolker Maan 7 Nurzin Lamo Maan 8 Rigzen Yangdol Maan 9 Tsering Angmo Maan 10 Jigmet Youdon Sriyul 11 Mohd. Baqir Imaniya Mission School 12 Susheel Kaul Imaniya Mission School 13 Tsering Chorol Sriyol 14 Rigzin Dolma Sumda Chung 15 Nima Dolma Sumda Chung 16 Jigmet Nurzin Kumdok 17 Dorjay Namgial Mugleb 17 Tsering Spalzang Sumda Chung 19 Jigmet Yangdol Markha 20 Gurmet Angmo Sumda Chenmo 21 Padma Theydol Katpa Thonpo 22 Tswenag Dolker Umlung 23 Tsetan Dolma Umlung 24 Tsewang Dorjay Maan 25 Sonam Kunzes Mugleb 26 Padma Stanzin Shara 27 Tashi Lamo Lamayuru 28 Jigmet Yangdol Lamayuru 29 Jigmet Angmo Mugleb 30 Tsering Namgial Mugleb 31 Kulsum PAGIR 32 Shakeer Leh 33 Stanzin Jigmet Mugleb 34 Sonam Norboo Markha 35 Sonam Dorje Markha 36 Dr. Avinash Deshpande RRI, Bangalore 37 Dr. Ravinder Banyal IIA, Bangalore 38 Dr. Prasanna Deshmukh IIA, Bangalore 39 Preethi Krishnamurthy GHE Volunteer 40 Paras Loomba GHE 41 Sonal Asgotraa GHE 42 Gaganpreet Singh GHE 43 Gaurav Gaur GHE 44 Tsering Dorjay GHE, Leh 7 b. People reached: Gender distribution * Please provide gender breakdown of the above total number

No: of Females trained 30 No: of Males trained 8

7 c. People reached: Age distribution * Please provide age breakdown of the above total number: example, number of infants (0-3), number of young children(3-12), teenagers (13-19), adults etc.

No: of Teenagers 15 No: of Adults 23

8. Audience targeted in your activities * Check all that apply. • o school students • o university students • o public • o teachers • o policymakers • o Other:

9. Details of activities conducted * List activities with brief description of what (activity) - where (venue) - when (number of hours) - who (attended).

Project Activities: -

Below are the list of all activities and the stakeholders that have been involved in the project till date:

S.No: Milestone Key Activities Attendees Location 1 Project Kick- Introductory Workshop on below IIA Team IIA Facility, Off Themes: GHE Team Leh (Full-Day) - Overview of the AHLC Project Selected Participants - How AHLC will benefit the local community - Introduction to the field of Astronomy & Astrophysics - Why do people pursue research in astrophysics - And, how in turn can astronomy become a new stream of revenue generation for the local community 2. Local Integrating local astronomy folktales IIA Team IIA Facility, community - Local engagement through astronomy GHE Team Leh engagement folktales popular in Ladakh Selected Participants (Full- Day) - Learn about a few other folktales from other parts of the country, to notice any similarities and train them to be able to talk about the subject from a wider perspective depending on the tourist's place of origin as well in the longer run 3. Training on Telescope 101 using below themes: - IIA Team IIA Facility, telescopes & - Astronomy began with unaided GHE Team Leh night sky visual observations and almanacs Selected Participants (6 hours) - Invention of telescope and its impact on astronomy - Why is a telescope needed for astronomy? - How does a telescope work? - What are the different types of telescopes available? - Merits / de-merits of one type of telescope over another - Show some photos/videos of current & upcoming telescopes from around the world 4. Introduction - Demonstration of telescope in action IIA Team Leh to night sky: - - Introduction of some stars, celestial GHE Team (6 hours) objects like moon, planets, some Selected Participants prominent deep-sky objects like Orion nebula, at night using telescopes 5 Assembling & Workshop to train villagers on how to IIA Team Leh handling assemble and handle telscopes that will GHE Team telescopes be installed in their villages. Selected Participants 6. Installation at Telescope installed at Maan AstroStay IIA Team Maan Maan near Pangong-Tso Lake GHE Team (4 hours) Maan Team 7. Installation at Telescope installated at PAGIR Astro- IIA Team Leh PAGIR Café in Leh GHE Team (3 hours) PAGIR Team

Impact, Outcomes, & Deliverables 10. Evaluation * To measure the intended outcomes, OAD recommends an evaluation of project activities. Please describe any external evaluation conducted & its results, including any self-evaluation.

Most of the parameters of the project are hard parameters that can be easily quantified and validated by external sources such as a Bank and the Receipt book. Hence, there was no requirement of external evaluation in the first year.

11. Feedback * If you were not able to run an evaluation, please summarize any feedback collected from your audience. What were the main observations and suggestions in the feedback?

Currently feedback from the visitors after the star-gazing session in Maan / PAGIR is taken in the below format. Feedback has been mostly positive so far, the main observations are:

Visitors Feedback at Maan Village

12 a. Sustainable Development Goals influenced * Select upto 3 SDGs on which your project had a significant influence. It is possible your project influenced more than 3 SDGs. In that case, we ask you to choose the top three SDGs. Check all that apply.

The AHLC project focuses on below UN SDGs: - SDG4. Quality Education SDG5. Gender Equality SDG8. Decent Work & Economic Growth

12 b. Sustainable Development Goals influenced * For each SDG selected above, briefly explain how your project contributed to that SDG.

Gender Equality – With creation of the women entrepreneurs, there will be a sense of respect among the community to treat them as bread winners for their family which is normally done by men. Decent Work & Economic Growth - Training women / villagers to operate telescopes and use them to show the night sky to tourists can create an added revenue generation model, supporting local economy and also promote off-beat areas. Quality Education – Introduction of Astronomy among school students’ in the village schools will also help them enhance their horizon towards science and discover new areas of interest.

13. Deliverables * Deliverables are the products of your project that helped you to achieve the above outcomes. Example, manuals, presentations, lectures, videos, and anything else developed and produced.

We are currently in the process of developing a standardized training manual that can be used as a reference by the teams operating the telescope facility at Astrostays.

14. Resources * Some of the deliverables produced maybe resources that could be used by other projects. Please provide a link to download these project resources - such as lectures, tutorials, 3D print files etc.

Most of the resources that were used to initiate the project were provided by IIA Scientist’s. Post the workshop, Hard copies of the some of the material was distributed to the women who attended the workshop. We will be now designing a course that will not only have the astronomy and telescopes basics but also around hospitality and guest etiquettes

Communications 15 a. Web presence * Project website link

The project’s most important component was creating market linkage to promote these homestays where the telescope was installed.

Not only we chose the conventional way of putting Banners and Boards around the area to attract nearby tourists but we also create online properties of these homestays on booking.com and Airbnb. 60% of the travelers booked through online medium.

Find below few online methodologies that we used to promote these Astro stays. Going forward, there will be a dedicated website for Astro stays.

Mountain Homestay Website:

Market Linkage: Village Maan AstroStay Listing on Mountain Homestays Website

Market Linkage: Village Maan AstroStay Listing on Booking.com

Market Linkage: Village Maan AstroStay Listing on AirBnb

15 b. Web presence * social media and other links

Website: https://www.mountainhomestays.com/the-astrostays/

Blog: https://ecoclub.com/blogs/astrostays-himalayas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountainhomestays/

16. PR * Links to any press releases and other articles in the media about the project. Helpful for the OAD to publicize the project.

News Article: http://news.statetimes.in/workshop-on-astronomy-for-livelihood-culminates/ https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/dc-inaugurates-telescope-at-pagir-for-watching-stars/

17. Photos & Videos * Please upload photos/videos to any file sharing site and paste the link here. These photos will be used by OAD & IAU PR.

Pictures can be downloaded from the below link:

Training on Astronomy in Leh Astronomy Sessions at Maan Village Setup of Telescope in PAGIR Office Inauguration of the Telescope at PAGIR Operation by Maan Village Astropreneurs

Videos cane be viewed on the below links:

Astronomy for Livelihood Creation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moa4LKQpw3M

Astrostays - https://youtu.be/qFqOS92N1_c

Funding & Partners 18 a. Total project budget (Euros) *

Total Budget Sanctioned was 14,000 Euros

18 b. Total funds received from IAU (Euros) *

Total Funds received from IAU as per OAD Grant was 13,996 Euros (Including Taxes). GHE had to submit 18% GST (Goods and services tax) to the Indian Government. The final utilized sum was 11,480 Euros after taxes

18 c. Total funds received from other sources (Euros) *

No other funds (financial) was received from other organization for the above project but many showed interest in developing this further once the pilot has been successfully deployed.

18 d. Details of funds received from other sources * Name of each organization and amount received

Not applicable

18 e. Any remaining funds (Euros) * how will you spend any remaining funds?

We have 1820 Euros left for the operations will May 2020. The remaining funds will mainly used to transport the telescope to a safer location during winter season and also designing some promotional material for Astro Stays.

19. Support received from other sources * non-financial support received such as equipment, venue, volunteers: Name of organization and description of support

GHE had collaborated with Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) for the AHLC project implementation. As a knowledge partner, two scientists from IIA helped with their expertise to training the participants. IIA’s facility in Leh was also utilized as the venue to conduct the 3-day astronomy workshop.

GHE also collaborated with Eicher Group Foundation to setup homestays in the location where Astro stays initiative was activated. This was part of the CSR funds from Eicher Group Foundation where they provided in kind material to setup homestays in the village.

20. Did you receive all the funds budgeted in the proposal? If not, what changes were made to the project? * Example, did you reduce the audience or reduce number of activities?

Yes, we received all the funds budgeted in the proposal. There has been reduction in the installation locations from the initial locations submitted to OAD due to the extra budget required for the telescope. We are currently working on 3 locations for setup in Ladakh

21 a. Final project budget * A breakdown of the project expenses. This data should cover the finances of the whole project during the period (not just for the amount provided by the OAD). If you have a separate spreadsheet with this data, please provide a link to the sheet.

The project budget for the period was used as follows: • EUR 4246 was used for purchase of Telescopes and lens including its transportation to Leh

• EUR 1019 was used to travel the 26 women from different locations to Leh and also local transport for 3 days Training at Leh.

• EUR 1620 is the good and services taxes that was submitted to the government. The tax on telescope purchase and other activities was later deducted from the overall 18% tax and then the remainder amount was paid to the government.

• EUR 2775 for Operational Expenses required to setup Telescopes to the site. This includes transport, accommodation and 3 meals at Homestays for 3 nights for 6 people;

You can also access the Expense sheet on the following link: Expense Sheet

Total Budget Utilized till now: EUR 9660 Total Unutilized Budget till now: EUR 1820

21 b. Receipts * Please upload copies of associated invoices/receipts to any filesharing site and paste the link here.

The Receipts have been Uploaded on the Following Link: AHLC Receipts

22. Partners * Name, short description, and role of organizations and individuals with whom the project partnered - universities, non profits, government departments etc.

Stakeholders in the community: Stakeholder Key Role Motivation Leh Deputy Necessary approvals from the local Community empowerment Commissioner councilors / government (if any) for implementing the project Councilors of the villages Logistical support for setting up telescopes Supporting their communities to identified for the AHLC in the villages create livelihood opportunities pilot Local training and maintenance support after the telescopes have been installed Participants from Ladakh Training in Astronomy, setting up Excitement to learn a new skill villages, identified for telescopes Additional source of generating AHLC pilot Logistical support income for their households

Collaborating Organization for Training: Partner Key Role Motivation Indian Institute of Jointly promote astronomy as a vehicle for IIA is committed towards Astrophysics sustainable development as well as enhance astronomy outreach for general STEM education public Educate villagers on the importance of dark skies

Stakeholders within GHE:- Stakeholder Key Role Motivation GHE Ladakh team Procure Instruments for AHLC project timely Working towards building Provide the team with required training for economic development model for setup and maintenance the communities that GHE works in

23. OAD Regional Offices * if relevant, add details of support or collaboration with OAD Regional Office

We directly interacted with the OAD team at Cape town with the project and had no involvement of any OAD regional office.

Future plans

24. Sustainability * Do you plan to continue the project after the OAD funding runs out? If so, how? And if you do not plan to continue, why not?

The project is designed in such a manner that for the locations for which it has been implemented, those locations are self-funded. The community will automatically look towards expanding the project. For newer locations, OAD funding would be required to replicate the same model.

25. Challenges encountered * Challenges faced during project implementation and deviations from the original plan.

Below are some major challenges that we encountered in the project execution: - 1.) Astronomy expertise for training community members: Our core project team consists mainly of people from engineering backgrounds with very limited knowledge of astronomy. One of the most critical components of this project execution was to ensure robust training of the community members who will be running the Astrostays.

Finding and partnering with the right knowledge partners who could understand the overall vision of this project and help to train and prepare people accordingly was a challenge After reaching out to several academic institutions, amateur astronomers and volunteers for collaboration, we were eventually fortunate to be able to join forces with Indian Institute of Astrophysics as a training partner – which proved to be an immense help for the program

2.) Dependency on seasonality: Ladakh experiences severe winters for almost 6 months, during which the temperatures plummet to -20 degrees and most of the passes are cut off from the nearest motorable roads. This squeezed our window of operation and project execution to only the summer months.

26. Recommendations for future projects * Recommendations for improving the quality/implementation/impact of the project based on the lessons learned.

Below are the main learnings we have gathered from the project implementation:

1.) Alignment of key stakeholders 2.) Robust and continued training program for our Astropreneurs 3.) High quality content for learning 4.) Holistic ecosystem to ensure project success 5.) Hospitality training for homestay owners

Future scope of improvements:

1.) More frequent trainings for a longer duration on both astronomy and hospitality 2.) Market linkage strategy for promoting Astrostays 3.) Infrastructure to host the telescope and other accessories

27. If applicable, what are some lessons learned from working with the community/ audience? *

Without mobilization no community will accept the project. One needs to share the long-term vision of the project with the community to make it successful. Also, one needs to hand hold the community and create initial market linkages to make the project successful.

28. Feedback on OAD processes * Any suggestions for improvements to any stage of the project cycle - from call for proposals stage to project reporting

The OAD process are very well organized and we got proper support from the OAD staff and leadership to implement this effectively.

29. Any other comments:

Project Impact (additional questions) some additional questions on the social and economic impact of your project on the local community.

A. Did your project lead to employment generation? Yes/No

Yes. Currently we have more than 9 people locally engaged with the project. This is direct employment. There was an indirect impact for over 55 people through this project that were engaged in logistics and planning.

B. Number of people who were employed/will be employed due to the project

9 People across 3 villages directly became employable due to the project. 55 people were employed indirectly through this project in 2019.

D. How long were they employed/will be employed and other relevant details.

All the villagers that got livelihood opportunity through this project are now entrepreneurs. We call them Astropreneurs. Hence, they are self employed and run this as a business.

E. Did your project generate revenue? Yes/No

Yes, the project has started generating revenue from the day one it was setup. The Project itself has taken shape in a form of microenterprise.

F. How much revenue was generated and who were the benefactors?

The project for 2019 lasted for 3.5 months due to onset of winter season from October. In these 3.5 months, the project has generated 1565 USD worth revenue. 70% of the revenue has been distributed among the Astropreneurs and the rest 30% has been provided to the community.

G. Is the project expected to continue to generate revenue into the future? For how long?

The project has led to creation of a village Astrostays committee formed of multiple Astropreneurs. Each Astroprenuer has not only been trained in basics of astronomy but also possess a homestay. So, in effect this has led to creation of multiple micro enterprises in a village. The model of astrostays is community owned and GHE, has already and will be continuously, creating market linkages for these Astrostays for future growth in tourism.

H. Did your project lead to boost in local economy?

Yes, as mentioned earlier, just with the astronomy sessions by the villages for over 500 tourists, the revenue generated was $1565. In addition to Astronomy sessions, the project also led to revenue generation through homestays setup in the villages. This accounted for over $4000 revenue through traveler staying these village homestays. There was also a contribution of local handicrafts to the revenue stream of the village economy through the travelers buying these handicrafts while attending the astronomy sessions but the revenue through Handicraft is still un accounted.

I. Did your project have any positive effects on the health or morale of the participants? For example, learning about the universe can lead to awe, inspiration and other positive moods. Do you think your project contributed to keeping the youth away from negative influences? Please explain.

Ladakh is predominantly a Buddhist area and people are mainly spiritual and don’t have many negative influences. The Project didn’t have major contribution towards mitigation of any negative impact but definitely contributed towards inspiring the younger generation to take this up as a livelihood activity. All the Astropreneurs are young people from the village between 21- 29 years age and have recently shown keen interest in running this initiative and also learning more on science and astronomy through various sources provided by GHE,

J. Did your project bring people closer together? astronomy provides a universal perspective and has the potential to bring people/communities closer. This has been one of the major interventions that the project has brought about. In addition to having provided economic benefits for the community, livelihood for the women and the young people but most importantly the project has brought people from different cultures together. Interaction with the travelers from various part of the world has instilled a new faith in the community for the outside world. In the evening, when everyone comes together for the Astro Sessions, the villagers also get to interact with each other and the children of the community play together.