In this Issue: The Recover and Rebuild Initiative From the Field In the news An Interview with Karma Tshering From the BCF Blog GNH Corner Recommended viewing

1. Great Canadian Giving Challenge: The Recover and Rebuild Initiative

On June 5th we completed the last in our pilot series of online workshops titled the Recover and Rebuild initiative. The initiative provides online training to Bhutanese teachers to strengthen their skills in a changing teaching environment. The training is facilitated by BCF teachers from Canada and Australia. These workshops exceeded all expectations. During the initial planning stages, the estimation was that there would be about 30 attendees for each workshop but we were extremely surprised to find over 100 accounts in the Zoom waiting room during the first workshop itself! This was a trend that continued over the next three workshops with the most common request being whether we could increase the number of participants for each workshop. By the end of the fourth workshop, we had reached close to 600 participants from across the country.   Participants appreciated the learning they gained through the workshops:  “All those pedagogies were new to me and I found all very useful and applicable in my school” “This is applicable for all subjects, likewise, I would like to look for more interesting activities unlike traditional means of teaching learning.” “Thank you for organizing such online workshops, which is helpful and beneficial for us.   With the high level of interest and participation during the Recover and Rebuild workshops, we are excited to keep the ball rolling. This is why we are taking part in the #GivingChallengeCA where we hope to achieve the goal of scaling up the project and funding new workshops for the teachers. Every dollar that is donated in June through Canadahelps.org gives the Bhutan Canada Foundation the chance to win an additional $20,000 that will go towards the #RecoverandRebuild initiative in Bhutan! The donations can be made here:

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2. From the field

Desuup (Guardians of Peace volunteers) walk the TBT in Mongar as part of their training.

In preparation for mapping and app development, TBT team Karma Tshering, Pema Drukpa and Kinga Wangchuck review survey plans with representatives from National Land Commission

Villagers learn sustainable trail building skills from Kinga and Kinley

Overcoming Obstacles on Trans Bhutan Trail   A path is little more than a habit that comes with knowledge of a place. ... It is the perfect adaptation, through experience and familiarity, of movement to place; it obeys the natural contours; such obstacles as it meets it goes around. Wendell Berry   At a time when there are so many obstacles in the world, there is a powerful metaphor in the carving of a trail cross Bhutan. Over the past months, BCF support for the Trans Bhutan Trail Project has helped bring together over 40 government and civil society organizations and employ over 900 community members impacted by COVID, to restore this 430km symbol of national unity. Where obstacles present, the team in Thimphu and Canada have followed the contours around, building a trail community and creating what is destined to be one of the world’s great long-distance treks.   What lies ahead of us? First, BCF is working with educators and leaders of Scouting, Desung (National volunteer organization) and Gyalsung (National youth leadership program) to develop trail-based experiential education programs. These will combine physical fitness, mental health and teamwork activities with cultural, historic and ecology knowledge to enhance learning. Second, BCF is incubating a travel-based social enterprise for when people can visit Bhutan again. The organization will deliver authentic community trekking experiences for visitors while re-investing in the sustainable livelihoods of villagers along the path.   Please join the Trans Bhutan Trail community. Follow our blogs and social media. Watch for announcements of the official opening. We look forward to seeing you on the trail.

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3. In the news

Transforming education and health for sustained economic stability for a resilient recovery Sector based skilling and training programs for the unemployed National Education Policy put on hold Education roadmap drafted as part of education reform? TVET reform plan to be ready by June 

4. An Interview with Karma Tshering, BCF Field Director!

An Interview with Karma Tshering, BCF Field Director An interview with Mr. Karma Tshering from BCF on his involvement with the Trans Bhutan Trail, including his thoughts on what it means to the communities and people along the trail! Read about it here!

5. From the BCF blog

A ‘Happiness Approach’ Builds Resilience to Crises  by. Dr. Kent Schroeder  March 20 is the International Day of Happiness. It can be difficult to figure out how to respond to such a day given the global challenges over the past year. Yet one of the things that has become evident is how a “happiness approach” to a society’s development can promote resilience in the face of a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. (continue reading)

6. GNH corner Gross National Happiness in Bhutan Are there lessons that can be learned from Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness model that are applicable to the economics of happiness in Asia more broadly? Listen to the latest podcast from the Oxford Society for International Development where BCF’s executive director, Kent Schroeder, and Jeremy Brooks of Ohio State University discuss this issue. Listen to the podcast here. 

7. Recommended viewing BCF’s Trans Bhutan Trail project partnered with Arc’teryx on a virtual tour of part of the trail that passes by Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital city. See the Buddha Dordenma up close in this introduction to the Trans Bhutan Trail. View the video below:

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