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 *: Union Territory of Ladakh, India 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 Kashmir (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, Zanskar 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, Nyoma, Nubra) – 3 Tehsils (Leh, Khaltse, Sumur) – 9 Blocks (Leh, Chhuchot,Kharu, Diskit, Panamic, Durbuk, 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.