This is the 5th of 7 posts about our travels around India to meet students, children and institutions. By now we are in Namchi, which is our last stop in Sikkim. We arrived after another long and bumpy jeep ride winding down precipitous valley sides, then back up again to reach the town.
On the way, we passed through the Temi Tea Estate.
We are here because Dichhen and Leemit are both at Namchi College. Leemit is in her 3rd year studying journalism, and Dichhen is in his first term of a Sociology honours course.
We met Dichhen first for lunch, then joined up with Leemit to go and visit the college. It was shut because of state elections in Sikkim. We were able to get a sense of modern buildings, although the student hostels were not in use because of a problem with water supplies. This is quite a problem locally – Leemit has water at her lodgings only every other day. Another local issue is the intermittent nature of the mobile phone signal, which gives us continual problems communicating, especially with Dichhen.
We had, of course, brought some old photos – Leemit looking very serious when she was young. Dichhen then left us to go and stay for a long weekend with his mother. She lives in Damthang which is only 13 km away, a journey which is nevertheless not practicable for daily travel. We had a walk round Namchi with Leemit before heading back to the hotel.
CHANGE A LIFE TODAY
The Children of Sikkim exists to support the education of disadvantaged children from Sikkim, in the Himalaya, NE India.
We are a UK registered charity which helps such children to be educated in Sikkim and elsewhere in India, from primary school through to college or university.
We give a young person continuity of support so as to allow them to achieve their potential.