Educating with heart

Early Learning Centre (ELC), a private elementary school in Thimphu, is doing something extraordinary-more than just providing academic learning. With its vision, Educating for universal happiness, this school has instituted a project called citizenship programme. Under this programme, ELC engages students in social activities. This, according to the school management, “is to civilize……educating with the heart!”

Recently, ELC has donated Nu 50,000 to Bhutan Kidney Foundation (BKF) in its attempt to collaborate with the Foundation to propagate and strengthen its citizenship programme. They proclaimed, “It's NOT charity but a social responsibility.”

Later, ELC students visit the Patient’s Guest House, JDWNRH, where 28 patients, mostly kidney failure patients who are under dialysis are sheltered. These patients are poor, homeless, orphans, without relatives in Thimphu and no good foods to eat. This visit was to make children have a direct personal connection with the beneficiaries of the citizenship programme/poor patients. The students talked to the patients, shared love, exchanged encouraging words and smiles, and contributed gifts and grocery to them.

This school’s visit has not only brought renewed mood of optimism and happiness to the patients. But more importantly, it helped the students learned about humanity. An increased concern for helping those less fortunate, heightened sense of love, the ability to communicate love, developed a great compassion, deeper understanding of life.  

Actually, I can never muster the right words to convey what ELC is doing. But as a member of the BKA for the good they have been doing, the way they’re educating their students, we place on them highest honour and always pray best wishes for this school.