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Bhutan News Service

Bhutan News Service

ADB, Japan extend support

Posted: 31 Aug 2010 03:11 AM PDT

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan are extending a $3 million grant to Bhutan to rebuild damaged schools using earthquake-resilient materials and designs which could potentially be replicated around the country.

The grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction for the Upgrading Schools and Integrated Disaster Education Project will be used to reconstruct four primary schools which were severely damaged in a devastating earthquake that struck the country in September 2009. Funds will also be used to train district engineers in earthquake-resilient building design and construction quality management, and to teach disaster risk management skills to community members.

"By introducing a seismic resistant structural design into the Ministry of Education's standard school design, the project will enable the Government to easily replicate it when building other schools," said Makiko Watanabe, Rural Development Specialist in ADB's South Asia Department

Bhutan lies in one of the most seismically active zones in the world and the 2009 earthquake was the most damaging natural disaster the country has experienced in recent times, with 12 people killed and thousands left without proper shelter. Among the worst hit areas were the districts of Mongar and Trashigang, two of the most remote and impoverished areas in the country. The Government of Bhutan and development partners provided swift assistance in the immediate aftermath of the calamity but without longer term support, including the rebuilding of damaged schools and other public facilities, there are concerns that already poor communities will be plunged even deeper into poverty.

The project is taking a 'build back better' approach which will see the four target schools restored using earthquake-resilient materials and design. Where possible, local materials will be sourced while private contractors doing the construction work will be encouraged to hire members of the affected communities, including women. Participating community members will also be taught earthquake resilient construction techniques that could potentially be applied to communal buildings or their own homes. Disaster risk management skills will be taught to district government officials and teachers and school administrators, who will in turn provide community training aimed at increasing awareness and ensuring effective responses to calamities.

"By providing disaster risk management training, communities will be prepared to proactively cope with future disasters," Ms. Watanabe said.

The project is expected to benefit about 880 students and teachers at the affected schools and around 9,000 residents of neighboring communities.

Along with the ADB-administered grant, the Government of Bhutan will make an in-kind contribution of almost $824,000 with target communities providing $14,400 in-kind, for an overall investment cost of almost $3.84 million. The Ministry of Education is the executing agency for the project which is expected to be completed by August 2013.

Long Journey of Challenge, Hope & Excitement

Posted: 30 Aug 2010 08:37 PM PDT

Bhutanese refugees, who had been forcefully evicted by Bhutan and after languishing in the UNHCR-supported seven camps in Eastern Nepal, are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel as they are being settled by the core group of countries comprising of the USA, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It is highly admirable that donors have responded to their needs with a right-based approach to providing services. The refugees are tremendously thankful to the UNHCR that took the lead in resettling them and the core group countries that worked together to host them in their respective countries. The bulk of the responsibility and initiative has been taken by the USA, which settled over 28,000 people already by the end of June 2010. Over 32,000 people have already been resettled in the West and a large section of the refugees are expected to get resettled in the near future. 

Understandably, as these large numbers of people are beginning their new life in these countries, they are facing number of settlement challenges. Some of these challenges are comparatively easy issues that will get resolved during the course of resettlement but there are others without less obvious solutions and people have to learn to find ways of coping. In my personal opinion, new immigrants in these countries have to take especial efforts in making their transition smooth and quicker by taking some initiatives, being proactive and adapting by listening to the settlement agencies, people who have settled earlier and gone through the same process and those who have good knowledge of the settlement process. The primary responsibility for adapting and settling for our Bhutanese population rests with the younger generation, who needs to take concerted efforts and patient helping elders and others who are less educated.

 

In this piece, I have tried to discuss some of the settlement issues and the ways they could be handled. Families have to work together and communicate with each other as the needs of settlement are different for young people as compared to the old ones, males and female needs are also different and it changes with the change in time.  I would like us to believe that we need to make use of various assets that we have by working together and analyzing who can do what within the families and the communities. Many are already doing it but we need to be creative and explore what is available and what we can do. 

Housing amenities
The settlement agencies in different countries have measures to look after the housing needs of new arrivals. The arriving families have to cooperate with the agencies and discuss amicable solution that is convenient to the new occupants and housing providers. Sometimes the arriving families put up conditions that do not work in the situation and it is best to ask what is available and what is possible and being realistic within available budget. The renting market in the Western countries are governed by legal provisions and it is important to seek information about what are the occupancy conditions, expectancy of tenants, the demands of the landlord and the neighborhood where the families are settling. Even if it is alright for the families, neighbors have restrictions and physical and psychological boundaries within which we are expected to live and function. As new tenants and new arrivals in these countries, we are expected to respect those laws and there are penalties if we do not abide by what is allowed in the communities. Small things like walking into neighborhoods and others property is not allowed as the privacy laws, conventions and requirements are well established. 

Health and hygiene concerns
The way apartments are constructed prevent air flow easily and how you maintain health and hygiene inside the apartments affects health situations of the residents. Things like regular vacuuming rooms and walk-ways, cleaning toilets regularly and keeping them hygienic is part of the western living. The way new arrivals from developing countries cook their food is not always suitable in the way houses are built in the west. They trap air and often you will find houses with strong odor of spices and oily, fried food items. It leaves strong smell on our dress and we need to adapt our cooking style by reducing fried items and limiting the amount of spices we use in our food. Often opening windows and doors and letting in fresh air helps to drive away the smell. But in countries like Canada, it is snow-covered outside for over six months of the year and it is not possible to open windows and doors often. We need to use air-freshener and bake bread sometimes, which reduces other odor. We have to be creative and apply various measures to make our living hygienic and pleasant. There are also health issues that could emerge as a result of living in unhealthy and unclean apartments. Landlords would be reluctant to allow future occupancy if they become aware of our living style. When we go to the office and if our body and cloth smells, co-workers would not be very happy to work with us. 

Need to support uneducated fellow Bhutanese
Within the arriving Bhutanese population in these countries, we have a varying range of people—some with high educational levels but many with limited literacy as well, especially our elder folks who had no opportunity of going to school. It is a big problem of communication in these countries as we need to communicate in English. We have a limited capacity in the older generation to pick up and be comfortable with the required level of communicable English in these countries. Some may pick up faster and some may be reluctant or even incapable of developing functional literacy. Other members of the community have to help them, especially the younger generation have a double burden of not only raising children but raising this cadre of elders is our responsibility. It would not help us blaming anybody but have to develop coping mechanism using all available resources within the community and developing all possible network of support outside the community. There are many people interested to volunteer, especially the retired would be happy and willing to help if they can. We need to develop mechanism to make use of this potential and communicate with each other. This is where our Bhutanese organizations can play a big role, not in talking only about politics. 

Employment and skill development
The level and amount of support provided to the Bhutanese arrivals in various countries varies. In Canada, the federal government supports Government Sponsored Refugees (GAR) for one year and there is good time for developing job skills and employment preparation. In my understanding, Australia supports much longer and until you are prepared to take up employment. In both these countries there is additional support if you are able to find out about them and explore possibilities. In the USA, the support system ranges from three months in some states to eight months in others. The good part of it is that there is a settlement counselor who follows through and makes sure that people have long term job. People have to explore and see what they can do, what type of resume we need to develop, who can help in developing good resume, writing selling cover letter, networking skills, interview skills and many others. This is the hardest challenge of settlement not just in the beginning months and years but for continuously in the West. The West is a competitive and individualistic society where we have to be able to sell our skills as much as the efforts in selling goods. We need to develop skills, perform well in our jobs, develop professional qualities and show that we can perform. If we cannot prove our worth nobody would be willing to hire the new arrivals. As a big part of this process, we need to learn the culture of working well with people, getting along, following instructions and contributing in our expertise areas. It will take time but in the long run the right efforts will pay off. 

Understanding the culture and etiquette
The laws and social conventions in different western countries vary when it comes to acceptance of new immigrants and the way we are expected to behave. The USA is considered a melting pot and the prime message and requirement of this message is that once you are in America you are supposed to behave like Americans and forget about your original culture. In Canada, multiculturalism is valued by law and conventionally where we are required to behave like other Canadians in some ways but we are encouraged to retain our inherited culture, language and religion. The legal system and the people actively promote multiculturalism. In Australia, it is similar but it is a bit insular country being geographically isolated. It has the conservative, old thinking into the system and the people but over the years there has been growth in tolerance and respect for multiculturalism. The younger generation in most of these countries is much more understanding and accepts people of all colors and background compared to the older generation and understandably so. Our expectation as new arrivals and future citizens of these countries is to learn the system, culture and the people as much as we can and adapt. We also face a huge challenge of retaining the culture and the language. There are varied models in this as some people have retained their language and the culture and others have lost it. It is easy to be part of the melting pot but hard to regain what is lost. So the challenge thrown to new arrivals is to think carefully what you would like to do and consult among the family members. 

No more refugees
The concept of being refugees is so deeply ingrained that it makes us all feel we cannot think otherwise and people would like to call us refugees. You have to learn to fight with yourself and let others know that you were former refugees and do not want to be called as such any more. You have equal rights as any other individuals in these new countries and should learn to live that way. The feeling of psychological inferiority needs to be slowly unlearnt and you should feel that you are capable individuals. The countries that have brought you would like to give you equal status as any other individuals in these countries and should learn to behave and feel that way. We also have equal responsibilities as new citizens or going to be citizens in these countries and should be uphold that responsibility with full pride and dedication. 

(Based in Canada, the author is a development professional. He can be reached at: adhikari.tika@gmail.com)

First private Dzongkha weekly launched

Posted: 30 Aug 2010 07:57 PM PDT

At a time when the quality of Dzongkha is being questioned and discussed in every possible medium comes an opportune attempt to apprise Bhutanese of their national language.

Beginners can take a plunge into the language, starting with the alphabets illustrated in elementary pictures and interpretations.

Students can refer their Dzongkha textbook contents in a simplest elucidation. Those who need help with essays and application writing can allude to tutorials. Office-goers can stay abreast about events unfolding around them in most comprehensible Dzongkha.

In short, it is Dzongkha in its highest reader-friendly form, or so the first private Dzongkha newspaper, Druk Neytshuel, promises its readers.

As for the first issue launched and distributed free yesterday, the 24-page paper
thakur mishra is typing…
thakur mishra: Apart from news updates, a well-organised section on driglam namzha, religion, economy, sports, community news and environment maintained a neat presentation on fresh topics.

The highlight was the section titled "Gup Of The Week", an attempt to bring communities in the limelight by profiling the leaders and exposing problems prevailing in each gewog.

The free issue, which has taken on well with the readers, will come for Nu 10 starting next week.

"Compared with the Dzongkha issues of other private papers, this paper is on a different level all together," Sangay Tenzin, a monk with the Thimphu rabdey, said. "It appears more serious than the previous ones, who, at times, give us an impression that they're functioning just so to adhere to government policy, and not out of a genuine i

One of the Dzongkha newspaper editors said the standard of the language and the news quality was impressive for a starter. "They should maintain it," he said.

A few, however, felt the need to standardise the spellings of names and places and objects, as it read different in different newspapers.

The weekly paper, comprising a team of five reporters and two editors – graduates from the institute of language and cultural studies and former monks – feeds on 4 pages of advertisements in Dzongkha, and also caters to English ads in its inserts.

"We started off two months ago, with an intention to emulate government's policy of promoting and preserving the national language," Chungdu Tshering said.
thakur mishra is typing…
thakur mishra: One of the Dzongkha newspaper editors said the standard of the language and the news quality was impressive for a starter. "They should maintain it," he said.

A few, however, felt the need to standardise the spellings of names and places and objects, as it read different in different newspapers.

The weekly paper, comprising a team of five reporters and two editors – graduates from the institute of language and cultural studies and former monks – feeds on 4 pages of advertisements in Dzongkha, and also caters to English ads in its inserts.

"We started off two months ago, with an intention to emulate government's policy of promoting and preserving the national language," Chungdu Tshering said.

Source: Kuensel