School: Balung Elementary School
    Tao-Yaun, Taiwan, Taiwan

13 students, ages 11-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on December 20, 2003. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2000, 2003

Classes and Teachers: Mr. Chia-Yu Hung, Mr. Ta-Cheng Chiang, Ms. Yueh-Hua Lu

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.bles.tyc.edu.tw

1. Description of Our Community

Balung, Tao-Yuan County, is located in the middle section of Northern Cross-Island Highway. Balung means cedars in Tayal language. The Upper Balung in Balung area is 1,220 meters above sea level. The residents are mostly native Atayals, and the most important products are peaches and persimmons.

Mountain Lera is located in Upper Balung. Lera means 'to look far away, the most beautiful place or mountain.' It was so called because you can see as far as the seashore in Yi-Lan County 50 kilometers away.

And now, the Nature Reserve of Mountain Lera and the biggest red cedar forests in Southeast Asia is a major tourists attraction.

2. Summary of Our Project

Thirty years ago, the Atayals in Mountain Lera lived poor and difficult lives. All they wanted was survival. No woman would marry man in this “black tribe”.

Then a textile trader from Yi-Lan came here and vowed to lead the native Tayals in creating a tourists attraction. Is he a developer, or a God-sent angle? He is an ordinary person who helps the black tribe find its vitality. He is Tung-He Chen.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:less than 20

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:4-6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

There is a computer center, which also opens to the public, in our school, with 16 computers and Fast Ethernet LAN connection linking to TANet.

There are frequent power outages, though, and a typhoon could sever the connection for several days. Only few students have single computers at home, so all of them have to use the computer center. A student has to walk a long way in the mountains at night in order to use the computer center.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

1.We tried many times but couldn’t get hold of Mr. Chen when we planned to interview him. Mr. Chen’s son told us that Mr. Chen was ill, and as it’s cold in high mountains, he spent his time in his hometown, Yi-Lan. We decided to visit Mr. Chen.

2.Internet is a powerful tool, but we found nothing about Mr. Chen on the web. Luckily enough that many people told us his stories, though.

3.Half of the fifth and sixth graders took part in this project. It was difficult for our teachers to take care of so many students at the same time. The big brothers and big sisters from National HsinChu Teachers College gave us one-on-on tutorship, and each of we learned to use e-mail, ICQ, building web pages and conducting interviews.

4.Our teacher has only a car, and he had to made two trips because there were to many of us. The big brothers and big sister of National HsinChu Teachers College often gave us a ride. Sometimes the passerby offered a ride on our way back. We’re very appreciative.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

1.We learned many things from the interviewees. Mr. Chen respects nature and life. Pastor Malaibadu is content and grateful. Such qualities can make the community and us happier and are priceless.

2.We learned many computer skills in the project, and got to know many friends from other school. We’re now good at digital cameras. Many of us have digital cameras at home, and are able to take pictures for our parents.

3.Teamwork is important. It takes a lot of persons to make a successful interview. The team performance would be affected if any one’s task is less than desired.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

The courses of language, arts and humanities, general studies and life education were incorporated in the project. We used what were taught in the school to work on it. We got to know the people and the events in our tribe. We realized what Balung was like several decades ago, and how did our tribe advanced to what it is now. Most important is, we found the driver behind the progress.

In our team, everyone did what one is interested in or good at. In interviews, for example, some asked questions, some took records, and some filmed the scenes. It was efficient, and we felt like a team.

Computers are important tools in lives. Computers and internet courses were taught at school. We applied what we learned to the project and felt that these techniques are very close to our lives. The internet is especially convenient. We could contact others quickly and get the information that we need.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

Interviews:Visiting local people and finding more about Mr. Chen.

Internet:Searching for related web pages. Communicating with surfers.

Digital cameras, digital camcorders and image cards:Taking photos and shooting the interviews, and converting the interview files into video CD.

Scanners and printers:The scanners were used in image processing. The printers were used in printing documents.

Telephones and fax:Contacting the interviewees.

Memory sticks and CDRW:Used for storing project related files and transfering them to single PCs.

Drafting boards:Computer drawings were made better.

Software:Dreamweaver, PhotoImpact, FlashFXP, Office…etc

* All equipment above were supported by our school and our teachers. We’re appreciative that ET Mall, Taiwan gave us a PC, a digital camcorder and a digital camera.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

In the beginning, we thought the students’ parents would be able to tell us who was the major driver of development of Lera, and who was the leader of our tribe. It’s Mr. Tung-He Chen, said many. We began to study who he is and how did he contribute to the community. Regretfully, we didn’t find any such data on the web.

At that time, many parents suggested us to call on Mr. Hung-Tzu Tseng, the chief of Hua-Ling village and Pastor Malaibadu. We visited them and found that Mr. Chen did a lot of important things, and there were many untold stories about him. We also found a brochure called “The attester fomr Mountain Lera: Mr. Tung-He Chen”, published by Cosmic Light publishing, and learned many more. We also contacted the author, Mr. Ching-Ming Tsai, a professor of Bio-Technology, Chung-Yuan University, Taiwan, through emails.

Then we planed to visit Mr. Chen. We called many times, but Mr. Chen was always not in. At last we went to Da-Kuan Resort, and met Mr. Chen’s son, Chin-Te Chen. We were told that Mr. Chen was ill and had been resting in his hometown, Yi-Lan. So we made plans and rent a van to visit Mr. Chen in Yi-Lan. It was good. He was a very kind person. We got a lot of information. We hope that, through our prayers, Mr. Chen will recover soon.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

1.We found that our tribe was poor and miserable in the past. However, we’re now attracting many tourists, and we have the famous Lera Peaches, despite remoteness. We’re now “A Star on Northern Cross-Island Highway” instead of “the black tribe”.

Many have strived and contributed to it. We’re proud of what we’re now. We’re confident and full of hope, and we believe we’d have brighter futre. We also hope that other native tribes in Taiwan would develop their own features and styles, just like what we did, and become successful in their own way.

2.Mr. Chen is a good example in the development of our tribe. Though he is an outlander, he loves Lera as much as any Atayal. He respects the nature, and willingly helps the needy ones. He’s become part of our tribe. He drives community development. Mountain Lera is his love.

Now many outlanders come to Mountain Lera for better lives. It’s hoped that those who’ve lived here, as well as those who move here, would take the beautiful Mountain Lera as their love, and people would live happily together, like a big family.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

First, we would like to thank those who accepted our interviews or gave us opinions. We couldn’t have completed the project without their help. The project is in fact a shared effort of our tribe, which is made whole again through it. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the ET Mall, for it gave a PC, a digital camcorder and a digital camera to our school. We’re also thankful to the supervisory institution of our school. It will establish a language study center, which is very helpful in learning information technologies, English and our mother language.

And we want to express our gratitude to Hope Agent Development Association, Republic of China. It’s the key to the successful completion of our project. HADA supported us through the CyberFair Project again this year. They provided many resources, gave us help when we ran into difficulties, and often came to Lera to see to our project. Besides, HADA planned to sponsor us for two years. What a great news!

Mr. Wen-Han Lo and other nine students from National HsinChu Teachers College came to Lera almost every weekend. They guided us through the project.

Thank you all, and thank you again.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

1.The project taught us teamwork, computer and interview techniques, and above all, a whole new perspective to life. Our tribe is what it is today because of people like Mr. Chen. If people would have a good heart, contribute one’s best to the public, love the land, and treat each other like family members, then the society would be a better one.

2.We were moved by the big brothers and big sisters from National HsinChu Teachers College. They rode mopeds (lightweight motorcycles) to the Mountain Lera. The hundred-kilometer (66 miles) trip itself was hard enough, but they gave their best effrots guiding us through the project. They spent almost every weekend with us. We believe they’d be very good teachers in the future.