Reflections on Gyelposhing

23^rd January

My overall impression of this very intense 3 weeks as a volunteer English teacher at the Winter Youth Engagement Camp (for disadvantaged girls) would have to be WOW!  Nothing that happened through the 3 weeks was small and ordinary.

Assembly, Day 1

I left the camp feeling very rewarded, very appreciated and with an extended family, to say nothing of better relationships with some of my Kheni students, and new friends.  I was also very exhausted.

With 678 girls, a small army of senior student (upper secondary and tertiary) volunteers, counselors, cooks, those who would run the youth development activities and the clubs and 16 teachers of English, it was a major exercise in logistics.  Important visitors at various times added a further logistical challenge.

The Minister for Education,
Lyonpo Mingbo Dukpa, addresses the girls
at the closing ceremony. 

The arrival of the girls on 28^th December was staggered – travel times varied from almost nothing for the local girls who were attending the camp to 14 or more hours for those coming from Samdrup Jonkhar.   Those I saw arriving were in the standard yellow school buses.

I was monitoring the whereabouts of the Kheni girls, who were bringing some of my luggage, expecting them about 4-5 pm based on their anticipated departure time and my ongoing attempts at communication with the accompanying teacher; they finally arrived around dinner time but the bus was stuck at the school entrance – luggage stacked too high on the bus roof to get through the ceremonial gate that had been constructed because of the imminent arrival of a government minister to open the camp.  







I went with someone in a minivan to watch the unstacking of some of the offending items off the roof (and to make sure nothing of mine got left by the wayside) and then greeted the girls as they were unloading the bus properly at the designated spot, claiming and supervising the unloading of my bags.  The girls’ luggage consisted not only of their clothes and toiletries, but also their eating utensils and their bedding – quilts or blankets, and mattresses or carpets on which to sleep.

Kheni girls settling into their dormitory

The girls were accommodated in the school dormitories – as a boarding school Gyleposhing HSS has around 650-700 boarders, so the facilities were there (ie, the rooms with bunk bed frames) and the cooks were used to preparing food for that many students in the gigantic cooking pots:  27Kg rice per meal I think was the stated required quantity.  Had they been feeding boys, it would have been more. 

Of course, it was rice for every meal.  For most, the food was a lot better than boarders’ food in their own schools – many more vegetables they (and I) were accustomed to and meat served at least once per day, although some of them were craving their basic diet of rice and potato curry by the end of the camp.  Cooking was done over open fires in the kitchen area – which was a corrugated iron shed and enclosure located about 50 metres from the multipurpose hall. 

Catering for more than 700 added a different
dimension to stirring the pot...

Gyelposhing Higher Secondary School sits on 2 relatively flat plains (upper campus and lower campus) alongside the Kuri Chhu (river) and is surrounded by steep rocky hills sparsely vegetated with pine trees.  January, well into the dry season, results in a lot of dead grass, flowers and dust.  The school buildings are traditionally styled and of the uniform design that seems to be common to schools throughout the kingdom.  Gyelposhing is also very low altitude for Bhutan:  I think around 500m above sea level.  It is chosen for the camp partly because the place is not cold in winter and also, I think, because of its proximity to the Gyeltshab’s palace and offices. 

The early morning temperature was milder at the guest house than at school, and there was a little relocation of standing positions for staff for morning assembly – the sun rising over the hills provided much needed warmth.  By midday, sitting in the sun was uncomfortable, but an afternoon breeze cooled us down and the temperature dropped quickly as the sun went down. 

The vegetable store had enough supplies for a small market

One disadvantage of the warmer climate was the insects.  I am not sure what was biting me, but an enormous amount of swelling, infection and general feelings of unwellness got a bit tedious after the 5^th bite.  I became paranoid about sitting on the grass with the girls, which was a shame, as this was an opportunity to talk with them in a less formal situation.  My supply from home of antibiotics for skin infections got used up and a visit to the doctor at the BHU provided further supplies along with an assortment of other medications.

Class 8D

Meetings on the first day, before the girls arrived, provided an outline of the daily program, and advised that the formal program would not start for several days as the girls needed to be medically screened and would engage in “mass bathing” – ie, shampoo and soap would be provided to enable all to bathe properly: something that might not have been easy for all to do in their villages.  Female staff were supposed to supervise this. Girls also needed to be allocated to houses (8 of those) for inter-house competition and to sections (classes) – of which there would be 24.  I would be allocated 2 sections, one scheduled for English from 9-10:30 and the other 11–12:30

The Kheni girls pose, as a group

I had been led to believe that the English teaching at camp would be relatively informal, but the first meeting of English teachers put paid to that assumption.  There would be a common program, which had pretty well already been worked out, for the class 7-8-9 group for which I had volunteered.  We would teach grammar, letter writing, essay writing….  I managed to get some additional ideas into the program, including some self - introductory activities right at the start, and a couple of other activities which were not so much like the standard classroom curriculum.

We were told that we needed to work on some program items for “shows” for visitors; I assumed that this was either one item per section or one item per teacher and suggested I could do an Australian song.  It turned out that it was one item for the whole of 7-8-9 and I had got it.  Practice would be whenever I could fit it into the busy schedule – probably during the lunch break, which, fortunately, was 1.5 hours.  Teachers were to identify 2 girls for each section.  I asked for volunteers once my classes started, and got 6 volunteers from one class but was struggling to find 2 from the other.  It was just as well that I accepted the 6, they formed the core of those who turned up for practice.  There should have been around 26, but apart from the first day, most did not come to practice and when we finally performed I am Australian, only about a dozen participated.

National dress was the preference
most of the time

The performance was included in the closing ceremony – at very short notice, and I was pleased to get compliments from visiting dignitaries, both political and royal, about the relevance of the message of unity.

Girls were not forbidden to visit the town, but they had to request permission first, and many were reluctant to approach those in charge to do this.  Towards the end of the camp, an afternoon was given over to a walk in the town and almost 700 girls descended on this small town.

While the girls did not have easy access to the town shops, most of the time, there was a temporary shop constructed on the school campus which supplied all they might need and a fair bit of what they might want (ie the ubiquitous chewing gum and junk food)

What started off as a little photography for my Kheni girls, expanded enormously.  Requests to “snap photos” and have them printed became more than frequent, and the discovery that I could get the on-site “shop” to print them overnight was very handy, until the supply of photographic paper was exhausted.

Great demand for photos.  Cha, Tendi Wangmo
from Kheni and myself

Preparations for important visitors always took much time.  There was practice of the prayers, practice of standing and sitting (without scraping of chairs) at the appropriate times, decoration of the multipurpose hall, erecting of the ceremonial tents, erection of flags and additional decorations to the ceremonial gates.  And probably a squillion other matters.  Formalities on these occasions are taken very seriously in Bhutan and staff also needed to know exactly what was required. 

There were also somewhat less formal occasions with important visitors, and the campfire after the formal opening, with Lyonpo Dorji Choden, was memorable.  

The ceremonial bowl of Ara was always
prepared for important visitors

Around 700 people sat around an enormous bonfire, which had been lit with what I though was uncomfortably large quantities of volatile fluids, and there was entertainment provided - singing and dancing by the girls.  Most were wearing kira and gho (the overseas teachers had not yet quite got the hang of what was required by way of dress...) The highlight of the evening, though, had to be Dasho Chitim's dancing to a Michael Jackson number.  A thoroughly unlikely and incongruous sight:  a gentleman of mature years, dressed in traditional gho, doing a wonderfully active disco dance as the tune, played from his phone through the sound system, echoed through the school grounds and the surrounding hills.

As well as teaching English, I elected to assist with tailoring club.  Club activities were conducted after lunch.  As there were more than 100 girls who elected to participate in tailoring club and only 9 sewing machines, I suggested I could take small groups to teach them some useful hand stitches (ie, backstitch and blind hem) and seam construction (French seams and flat fell seams) and hand sewn buttonholes.  

I justified these techniques by telling them that although they were learning to machine sew, their access to machines back in their villages would be almost impossible and with these techniques they could sew their own garments.  I purchased a taego piece and started to hand stitch it together, though did not get it finished before the camp ended.

The Multipurpose Hall prepared for the arrival of special guests

After afternoon tea, sport activities, including inter house sport competitions took place, followed by mass dance practice in which all girls were supposed to participate. this was coordinated by Thai dance teacher Miss Cha.  After dinner the evening program included inter-house cultural and quiz type competitions as well as the occasional movie, or concert evenings with girls electing to perform songs or dances – something that many are quite confident to do.

Al fresco hand stitching - learning french seams

Around the time that the girls were separated into houses, Anna and I were co-opted into Sernya house and requested by the house coordinator to create a banner of some sort (without anyone else knowing).  The concept evolved, as Anna and I discussed it, from poster paper based, to paint on fabric to a small work of art in fabric only.  Anna, with her artistic abilities designed and cut, and I stitched (also assisted by Anna) over a number of free afternoons at the beginning of camp and after excusing ourselves for a few evenings to return to our accommodation to work on our “secret project”.  It was during this time we discovered a lot in common despite our differences, and it was a rewarding project as we created our awesome piece of artwork!

Banner in progress

I was a little uncertain about sharing a room for 3 weeks, but it worked out well.  Despite our different approaches to a lot of things, a bit of tolerance and consideration goes a long way, as well as being upfront about any potential issues. 

The final product

The luxuries of our room did not pall, but only seemed to expand as our delightful host, the man in charge, Sangay, seemed not to be able to do enough to oblige us.  Laundry needs doing?  Just leave it out.  You would like to eat dinner here?  What would you like?  You need a lift somewhere?  Just tell me, if I am not busy I will take you.  Would you like a drink and some snacks this evening?  Here, share these.  You would like me to organise transport for you to another town?  No problems.  You want to stay for 2 extra nights after camp?  No problem and no charge since you have been volunteering.  He was so wonderfully obliging and a fabulous example of the kindness that is Bhutanese people.

Roommate Anna attempting yet again to sort her suitcase!

I did hear some negative feedback from one of the local teachers about the “special treatment” we were getting with our accommodation, but I took the opportunity to point out that while they were getting paid and getting an extra daily allowance for camp, we were getting only our food and lodgings (or fooding and lodging, to use the term on many commercial establishing signs)

The girls were wonderful, very shy to begin with but by the end of the 3 weeks, many were very comfortable with us – at least with the overseas teachers.  I had told my classes that there was not time to be shy, to be reluctant to volunteer, to take ages to get to know me and each other, they needed to do it right from the start to get the most out of camp.  I had them shouting at the start of each lesson “I am confident” “I can do anything” and 2 weeks into camp, I was running a lesson and asking each girl in turn to read a sentence and realised that each was doing it straight away, clearly and with no hesitation or prevarication.  That did not happen on day 1 when most were reluctant to speak aloud and I told them how pleased with them and proud of them I was.

The multipurpose hall was packed to capacity for formal
occasions - and for these the Rachu was required - the
ceremonial scarf worn on one shoulder

There was a visit by a TV crew during one of the last lessons, and we had about 10 minutes notice of this.  I told the class what was about to happen, and once it registered that it would be the filming of a normal lesson, they begged me to make the questions easy.  Of course, we did a rehearsal of the questions I would ask, so the TV crew filmed a segment with the whole class responding in chorus to my questions.  Not exactly modern teaching strategies, but the girls were comfortable with this and in some ways I think I reinforced their understanding of what they were supposed to be learning – how to structure paragraphs in an expository essay.

Out of class interactions improved really quickly too, from only one or two who were prepared to engage in casual conversation,  many more became confident to do so, and the photography sessions also helped this.  So many wanted snaps taken of themselves with one or other of the teachers.

Lyonpo Dorji Choden address the girls
during the opening ceremony

And then there was the building of “extended families”.  Mine started with a rather heart rending, written request from a class 8 girl who I did not even teach, Chimi, asking if I would be her mother.  She did actually have a mother, but her mother had a new partner and cared little for the girl and spent much of her time drinking.  “I don’t want anything, I need your love and care”.  This was followed by a verbal request from another girl, Sangay, that I would be her mom.  Her mother had “got a new stepfather” (ie partner) while the girl was at boarding school, had become pregnant with twins, and the new partner had disappeared from the scene.  Sangay was feeling quite neglected and uncomfortable to have come home from boarding school to have this situation foisted upon her.

I met Sangay later in Mongar town, she was the attending relative while her mother was hospitalized prior to the imminent birth of the babies.  Sangay was sleeping at the hospital (ie, sharing the bed with her mother or on the upright chair beside the bed) and had only the clothes in which she was standing.  She admitted to having cold feet (she was wearing only plastic sandals, so I took her to my hotel to find her some warm socks and she also admitted to being generally cold, so I gave her a long sleeved t-shirt to add a little extra warmth.  She declined my offer to buy her lunch but accepted a hot cup of tea, and cake to take back to the hospital to share with her mother.  She had taken me to the hospital and introduced me to her mother, (and several other relatives who were attending the hospital for their own reasons) then shown me the maternity ward rooms – the “waiting” ward, the early stage labour ward, the surgical ward for caesarian birth, the post-op ward and the neonatal ward for normal deliveries. 

Sangay had just asked me to be her Mother

I also had a request from another delightful girl, Kinzang, to ask fellow teacher Alex to be her brother.  I insisted that this request needed to come from her directly to Alex but Kinzang was so painfully shy about this that I ended up ordering her, as her teacher, to stay back after class, to accompany me to Alex’s classroom and to ask her question.  She was ready to run away but would not defy her teacher!  I’d worded Alex up about this and he was more than happy and was most gentle with her while she stood in front of him, scarcely able to get a word out.  She was so happy when he said yes and next day she asked if I would be her sister.  So I guess that makes Alex my brother!

Alex and Kinzang - just after he'd agreed to
be her brother

After the camp was over, one of the local girls, Rinchen, offered to come walking with me, and told me a little about her dysfunctional family situation, then told me that she considered me not only her teacher but also her mother and her sister. 

I have subsequently had messages and phone calls (often missed calls, which are a signal for me to call back) from not only these girls but also others from camp and students from Kheni.  It gets a little confusing for me when they use a variety of phones to send messages and don’t identify themselves but it is delightful to hear from them. 

The girls at camp are all from extremely poor backgrounds.  The camp was instigated by His Majesty the King, the fifth Druk Gyelpo, who was concerned when he saw girls in the east working at the roadside, breaking rocks for road construction, during the winter holidays.  The camp aims to keep these girls off the roadworks (the girls get paid to attend camp) and give them some additional language skills and build confidence and self esteem and give them skills to deal with some of the issues they face in their lives back home.  It is an attempt to avoid the exploitation (in all its forms) of these girls.

"Mass Dance" practice before dinner:  synchonised dancing
with a huge number of girls

Some statistics collected by the councilors showed that around 30% have divorced parents (not in itself necessarily problematic, but in rural Bhutan when families rely on farming or manual labour for their income, this often results in further economic distress), around 13% are orphans, 44% have witnessed domestic violence at home and 37% have alcoholic parents.

That some of the girls are from situations that are dire was only reinforced by the fact that four were not sent home at the end of camp.  They were kept back, with their consent, to be kept in the care of the Gyelshab’s office staff until school resumes and they return as boarders.  I could only think that agreeing to this was possibly one of the biggest and bravest decisions these girls would ever make.

The speed with which we built strong relationships with many of these girls is no doubt a result of their need as well as the atmosphere of camp.  It was difficult to say goodbye at the end of the camp.

With Kheni students Dema Choden and Lungten Dema

In one of my formal English lessons I asked the girls to identify something that they thought was a serious issue (we brainstormed and came up with issues such as global warming, littering, poor water supply, poor water quality…) and after discussing and demonstrating the format of a formal letter, I asked them to write to someone in authority requesting specific action to deal with an issue.  One girl chose to write to her school principal to ask him to deal with the issue of boys teasing and touching girls.  This was something that I thought needed dealing with, so asked the writer if she was happy for me to discuss the issue in class, without mentioning her name.  She was happy, not only with that, but also with filling me in with further detail of the issues at her school.

As a peer counselor, she was privy to a body of knowledge from her schoolmates, and she was comfortable enough to tell me that there were girls at school who, through economic impetus, were prostituting themselves, and others who were experiencing their brothers coming to sleep with them.  Knowing that “brother” is a generic term for any male relative, close or otherwise, I clarified that she did actually mean brothers who had the same parents and not “brother cousin”

So the morning’s lesson plan was rapidly amended.  I started by introducing the reason (the letter to the principal about boys touching), and giving them a gentle assertive communication structure for a situation where someone might be getting too close and causing discomfort without realizing it.  We went through repeating the communication and the stages of ramping up the communication to demands for the action to stop, yelling for help and even screaming.  We tried some role plays, with different degrees of success.  I then asked one girl to come out and put her hands on my shoulders, assuring her that no-one was about to get embarrassed or injured in what followed, and demonstrated knee to groin as a response to a boy that would not let go despite the verbal communications.  It brought the house down!  I emphasized that it was for “emergency use” and would give them enough time to run away and find help.  I also emaphasised the message that no male has the right to do anything to them that they are uncomfortable with.  Their subsequent writing suggested that for a few of them at least, the lesson had given them a degree of empowerment.  I can only hope.

An unanticipated treat

For New Year's Eve, the volunteers organised a party.  All volunteers and staff were invited, as well as visiting dignitaries.  We had asked what we should contribute - assuming that the usual collection of money would be done, but were told nothing.  The evening followed the usual social pattern, with tea and biscuits followed by alcohol and dinner.  As soon as alcohol was served, the music was started and with true party style, everyone sat looking and waiting until Dasho Chitim came and suggested that he and I should start the dancing.  I must say, I enjoyed the evening enormously and cannot recollect dancing so much and drinking so little alcohol on New Year's Eve in a long time. Auld Lang Syne was sung in English, and in Dzonkha. I sneaked off around 1pm, and found a lift home with Jimmy, who had told his wife he would be back at 9pm....

It was lovely, both during camp and towards the end of camp, to receive the acknowledgements and appreciation of the girls, the organizers and those higher up.  Some of the girls wrote letters, expressed their appreciation verbally or gave gifts.  The most touching of the gifts would have to be a hand knitted “muffler” (neck warmer) and pair of baby booties for my (as yet non-existent) granddaughter.  I promised to keep the latter carefully stored ready for the event.

We also received some delightful official gifts in recognition of our efforts:  hand paintings on fabric, books and commemorative coins and from the camp coordinators, a wonderful gift of the locally handmade wooden containers for ara.

The verbal thanks from our important visitors, political and royal, was also lovely.  Its easy to give much by way of effort and time when one is appreciated and showing appreciation is something that Bhutanese people seem to be so good at.