Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
SHARE Community Based Tourism Development Initiative : East Himalayan Villages
Welcome!
My name is Prasanta Mallik, field coordinator and founder of Support Himalayan Agro Rural Enterprises (SHARE). I am beginning this blog to share the aims and initiatives of this Organization .
I would like to begin by discussing our 1st initiative, which is to aid individuals and communities in Chuikhim village, Darjeeling, West Bengal. This is a remote area, surrounded by forest and at an altitude of 3000+feet. Residents of this village struggle against challenging circumstances including poor road conditions, lack of access to health centers, lack of irrigation systems, and limited access to educational institutions. (There is only one poor primary school, which provides a very basic level of education, and the nearest high school is 14km away from the village.)
There are also various social problems that the village faces, including widespread alcoholism. For such reasons Kalimpong (Rambi) police station has “black listed” the village.
SHARE has also given birth to other projects such as the “Community Based Tourism Development Program,” and a campaign against the selling and consumption of alcohol. This campaign slowly gained support in the village, and now, one year later, Chiukhim village is strictly alcohol free! The tourism program has also had success, for we have established a few home stays for tourists, special interest visitors, and ‘self help groups.’
Unfortunately SHARE has not received any support from any leading community based tourism and travel related companies. Although Chuikhim is now a peaceful, secured village, with more tourism than before, it has been a rocky road to get there.
SHARE is also proud to announce another program it has begun here, called the ‘SHARE CUP,’ an inter-village soccer tournament and rural Himalayan soccer talent
search program. In the past six years, through its selection program, SHARE successfully picked five soccer talents for the Kolkata premier division club.
This year, SHARE is focused on starting a junior high school, with the cooperation of highly motivated and interested villagers. The construction of the school is about 90% complete, and has been made possible by funds that have come from a personal loan from one of the villagers, Tikara Chhetri. The school is being built on a half acre of land donated by another villager, 75 year-old Damber Sing Gurung. SHARE is wholeheartedly committed to the Chuikhim village, its communities, residents, and ensuring the success of its new school.
I would like to say a special thank you to respected and loving friends of SHARE, visitors, responsible tourists, individuals from the media who have spoken about our cause and have helped us. Thank you to all those who have inspired and motivated SHARE, and I plan to introduce many of them through this blog.
Sincerely,
Prasanta Mallik
(Photo Journalist &
Community Based Activist)
My name is Prasanta Mallik, field coordinator and founder of Support Himalayan Agro Rural Enterprises (SHARE). I am beginning this blog to share the aims and initiatives of this Organization .
I would like to begin by discussing our 1st initiative, which is to aid individuals and communities in Chuikhim village, Darjeeling, West Bengal. This is a remote area, surrounded by forest and at an altitude of 3000+feet. Residents of this village struggle against challenging circumstances including poor road conditions, lack of access to health centers, lack of irrigation systems, and limited access to educational institutions. (There is only one poor primary school, which provides a very basic level of education, and the nearest high school is 14km away from the village.)
There are also various social problems that the village faces, including widespread alcoholism. For such reasons Kalimpong (Rambi) police station has “black listed” the village.
SHARE has also given birth to other projects such as the “Community Based Tourism Development Program,” and a campaign against the selling and consumption of alcohol. This campaign slowly gained support in the village, and now, one year later, Chiukhim village is strictly alcohol free! The tourism program has also had success, for we have established a few home stays for tourists, special interest visitors, and ‘self help groups.’
Unfortunately SHARE has not received any support from any leading community based tourism and travel related companies. Although Chuikhim is now a peaceful, secured village, with more tourism than before, it has been a rocky road to get there.
SHARE is also proud to announce another program it has begun here, called the ‘SHARE CUP,’ an inter-village soccer tournament and rural Himalayan soccer talent
search program. In the past six years, through its selection program, SHARE successfully picked five soccer talents for the Kolkata premier division club.
This year, SHARE is focused on starting a junior high school, with the cooperation of highly motivated and interested villagers. The construction of the school is about 90% complete, and has been made possible by funds that have come from a personal loan from one of the villagers, Tikara Chhetri. The school is being built on a half acre of land donated by another villager, 75 year-old Damber Sing Gurung. SHARE is wholeheartedly committed to the Chuikhim village, its communities, residents, and ensuring the success of its new school.
I would like to say a special thank you to respected and loving friends of SHARE, visitors, responsible tourists, individuals from the media who have spoken about our cause and have helped us. Thank you to all those who have inspired and motivated SHARE, and I plan to introduce many of them through this blog.
Sincerely,
Prasanta Mallik
(Photo Journalist &
Community Based Activist)
SHARE Community Based Tourism Initiative : East Himalayan Villages
SHARE: Creating Pockets of Heaven on the Hills in North Bengal, Sikkim
Through the promotion of tourism and related activities, Support Himalayan Agro Rural Enterprises (SHARE) aims at the development of tribal communities in far flung villages of North Bengal and Sikkim. However, SHARE recognizes that before tourism can be promoted in many of these villages, it is first necessary to develop services such as health care and education, to improve livelihood in general, etc. In a nutshell, SHARE intends to turn struggling tribal settlements into self-sustaining modern, civil, economic units, while being mindful of the traditions and desires of the villagers.
For instance, SHARE looks to hilly, scenic villages that have the potential to become tourist destinations. Then, through local collaborations, SHARE promotes home stay tourism in areas that are otherwise virtually inaccessible to tourists. This does not only benefit the tourist and provide him/her with a unique experience, but brings direct benefits to the village households.
Once the model for home stays is developed and the collaboration is well established, SHARE looks to other ways of cooperating with villagers to promote all-round development.
These initiatives include, but are not limited to:
1) Home stay tourism and hospitality
2) SHARE community health checks
3) Samuday Bikash Samity (Society for Community Development)
4) Sporting activities (SHARE Cup-inter-village football tournament)
5) Craft development and promotion
6) Garment and medicine banks
7) A junior high school (opening soon)
8) A library (multilingual is under preparation)
9) Formation of self help groups
10) Organic farming
11) An anti - alcohol campaign
Thank you,
Prasanta Mallik
Through the promotion of tourism and related activities, Support Himalayan Agro Rural Enterprises (SHARE) aims at the development of tribal communities in far flung villages of North Bengal and Sikkim. However, SHARE recognizes that before tourism can be promoted in many of these villages, it is first necessary to develop services such as health care and education, to improve livelihood in general, etc. In a nutshell, SHARE intends to turn struggling tribal settlements into self-sustaining modern, civil, economic units, while being mindful of the traditions and desires of the villagers.
For instance, SHARE looks to hilly, scenic villages that have the potential to become tourist destinations. Then, through local collaborations, SHARE promotes home stay tourism in areas that are otherwise virtually inaccessible to tourists. This does not only benefit the tourist and provide him/her with a unique experience, but brings direct benefits to the village households.
Once the model for home stays is developed and the collaboration is well established, SHARE looks to other ways of cooperating with villagers to promote all-round development.
These initiatives include, but are not limited to:
1) Home stay tourism and hospitality
2) SHARE community health checks
3) Samuday Bikash Samity (Society for Community Development)
4) Sporting activities (SHARE Cup-inter-village football tournament)
5) Craft development and promotion
6) Garment and medicine banks
7) A junior high school (opening soon)
8) A library (multilingual is under preparation)
9) Formation of self help groups
10) Organic farming
11) An anti - alcohol campaign
Thank you,
Prasanta Mallik
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)