So, dear friends (women), jump out from your busy schedule,
free yourself from the stressful life, have fun and do whatever your heart
says. Because today is your day!
Schools in Bhutan have already
resumed their new academic year. It’s always very encouraging to see students
carrying lunchboxes to their schools. The education ministry and all schools
would be applauded for such initiative. However, the content of foods in their
packed lunches is not so encouraging.
And we are what we eat. Most students’
packed lunches contain typically fat-rich traditional Bhutanese foods (higher
in saturated fat, sugar and salt and often contain packaged noodles). These
foods are, not at all, helping to encourage healthy diet that is so important
for children’s health and future. More dishearteningly, parents are failing to
put enough fruit and vegetables into their children’s packed lunches.
I know it it’s difficult for
parents to control what their children eat. But, our parents can influence what
is in their packed lunches. A few months back, I had a brief meeting with a
Japanese nutritionist at JDWNRH. She told me that it’s very important to ensure
children’s packed lunches always contain some portion of fruits and vegetables.
According to the nutritionist,
fruits and vegetables fall under protective foods group that contain essential
vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help protect your children from diseases. Also,
they boost your children’s intelligence and energy level and control their
weight.
P.S. Pass across this message to all
parents. Thank you!
This is what I did with my colleagues last Saturday.
Greening program in my office gardens. Holiday though, it was time for us to
take rest, spend time with our family and do other household chores. Yet we
initiated, proposed and maintained our office gardens.
We bought organic manure and added it in the gardens, and also
protected the tree plants with bamboo fence. This is a good opportunity though.
In Thimphu, most people live in hired apartments. And even to
get a parking space is difficult; keep aside the talk of getting the share of
your gardens.
So to maintain your office gardens is your best alternative. And
of course, it’s always good to work in the gardens, to take in green. It’ll
also reduce your office gardeners’ workload.
I tell you, this is the right time (beginning of spring) to
maintain your gardens as the flowers are about to bud.
So when you loosen the soil and add manure, your flower gardens will grow
colourful, attractive. And you don’t feel like bunking from your office by 3 pm
or as soon as your bosses leave.
After a couple of days of thick, grievous rain, I sense
spring is here. And what a perfect moment to experience it! Weekend is here, ah. I’d
certainly gang up with my friends; go out for coffee in the town-out in the
open, under warm sun.
Gho and kira are the essence of our national identity. We wear it with love and pride. However, we see around many chilips wearing gho and kira enthusiastically. Some wear it good, perhaps their hosts would be helping them wearing it, beautiful. But we see others wearing it so disgracefully (like in the picture below). But don't you think it's the duty of every Bhutanese citizen to ensure that your guests or chilip friends wearing our costume properly, with dignity?
Indeed, it's the moral responsibility of this Bhutanese man walking next to chilip to help the foreigner wearing his gho properly.
This is what I've been drinking since my childhood. Tongpa. Strong bangchang in it. I'm from Gelephu. In every festival or celebration, we offer our guests with tongpa. In a big celebration like wedding where there will be a huge number of guests, you'll be offered tongpa in bamboo containers.
I’m a youth worker. I work with the only government
organization (Department of Youth and Sports) that looks after youth concerns
in Bhutan. Despite the department’s continued efforts addressing youth concerns
(in collaboration with other youth-related agencies), we are, by each passing
day faced with huge and more challenging youth problems. Now, I’d confess that
youth problems in Bhutan have become beyond our control. And we lack both
technical and manpower capacity to address the current youth concerns.
However, let’s not forget all this. The police department and
BNCA are doing all in their power to curb youth problems. The Gyalpoi Zimpoen’s
Office has been initiating many youth programmes all over Bhutan to engage
youth meaningfully and impart them with life skills. Other youth-related NGOs
are also providing necessary facilities and services, and organizing youth
programmes for our youth.
And there are a few individuals who work altruistically for
youth in Bhutan. One such person is Lam Shenphen. He gathers youth abusing
drugs, provide them necessary counseling and refer them for detoxification.
Tashi Namgay, the founder of Bhutan Kidney Association, is
another individual who walks extra mile for the young people of Bhutan. When I
visited his place last year, I was surprised to see four young boys (drug
abusers) in his house. Tashi keeps these young unemployed addicts with him, in
his house, under strict supervision and counseling. There are also other dozen
of recovering addicts under his care and supervision. Tashi has attached most
of these young addicts as intern, volunteer and part time worker in different organizations
and business firms. Some, under his guidance and supports, are gainfully
employed.
But now, due to increasing social problems (disintegration
of family values, divorce, rural-urban migration, westernization and
materialism, negative impact of social media, availability of drugs and gang
culture) in Bhutan, youth are left vulnerable, indulging in all sorts of social
ills.
And only a few individuals, one youth department and a few
youth-related agencies are never enough to solve the current problems of youth
in Bhutan. Moreover, the ministry of education is designed more towards school
education and curriculums. So looking at youth population (50 percent of
Bhutan’s population) and increasing youth problems, there’s immediate
requirement of Ministry of Youth (or, at least, ministry for social problems)
to address youth problems. With their own ministry, youth’s problems will be
addressed through multi-pronged strategies, with more trained professionals
and technical resources.
