Cegaw, who started out with no particular computer skills but unbounded enthusiasm, singlehandedly completed the Piyouma website. (Jimmy Lin)

         The birth of the Piyouma site
                                                                  ◎photos by Jimmy Lin ◎tr. by Phil

 NewellSoon thereafter, in October of 1999, Cegaw applied for free website hard-drive space at taconet. Then he began to key in data, one Chinese character at a time, which included cultural and historical materials he had been collecting over a long period, a study of the Paiwan indigenous people written by his younger brother Vuluk, and numerous photographs of village life taken over the years by Lampaw (Kung Teh-hsing). The website opened in mid-October of 1999. Cegaw relates that "in order to put things that happen in the village every day online, it was common for me to be at home working on the website until one or two in the morning." He reveals that he spent at least NT$3,000-4,000 a month staying online.

In order to share the website with other village residents, Cegaw decided that the Pingho Presbyterian Church, the institution in the village with the most financial and human resources, should manage the website. As he explains: "The Presbyterian Church is the main focus of faith for 95% of the tribe. The people trust the church because of its efforts over the years to preserve Paiwan culture and for its open and tolerant attitude." Thus, this February, after Cegaw explained his reasoning to them, the villagers unanimously voted to formally convert the Piyouma community website into the church website.
◎This material is from:Taiwan Panorama