“………… It is with the greatest sense of gratitude that I venture to write this letter of Thank You to the Rotary Club of Thimphu, for the unprecedented impact your organization has brought to these impoverished parts of Chhukha Dzongkhag. Suffice it to say that nothing even remotely compares to what you have done for the improvement of health and livelihood of the people of Bongo Gewog.”
“….. I can only speak on behalf of the health sector in my capacity as the Health Assistant of Bongo Gewog. And here I can tell you that in the past 20 years of being a health worker, I have never seen such dramatic improvement in disease prevention, as that I have seen in Bongo Gewog. The impact has been astounding, to say the least.”
“……… In 2017 when there were no PF toilets, my hospital recorded 60+ cases of diarrhea and dysentery. But in 2018, the number of cases dropped to just 28 – representing a massive reduction of over 55%. Even better, the occurrence of skin diseases went down from 79 in 2017 to 27 cases in 2018 – a drop of 66%. Such improvement not only represents better health for the people but substantial savings for the government, through reduced spending on healthcare.”
“………….. it is not only the reduction in incidences of diseases that has helped improve the lives of the people of Bongo, I am also proud to report that Rotary Club of Thimphu’s donation of 8 units of Omron Blood Pressure Monitors has recently helped prevent two fetal deaths – through timely detection and treatment. Without those portable devices that helped me monitor the cases remotely, it would have been certain death for the two persons.”
The above are portions of the letter of thank you sent to the Rotary Club of Thimphu by Mr. Sangay Tenzin, Health Assistant, Bongo BHU, Chhukha Dzongkhag. As you can see, he is grateful for the toilets we built - a total of 95 of them in two villages of Chhukha Dzongkhag - Bongo and Ketokha.
In early January of 2018 we built 36 toilets for Bongo village. Then in July of 2018, we built 25 toilets in Ketokha village. Finally, 34 more were built and handed over to the Ketokha community on 8th of this month. The funding for the toilets was received from Rotary Clubs from Malaysia, USA and Sweden.
Bongo and Ketokha qualify as the only two villages in the entire country with 100% toilet coverage. And, we at the Rotary Club of Thimphu are proud to have played an active part in achieving this remarkable feat. Amazingly the communities of these villages managed to build more than one toilet a day, proving that all that it takes is organization, determination and leadership. The construction of both the toilet projects in Bongo and Ketokha were spearheaded by a tireless supervisor of outstanding grit - Sangay Thinley of CBS - himself a Bhumiputra from Bongo.
Ketokha village under Chhukha Dzongkhag
The pour-flush toilet that we built in the villages of Bongo and Ketokha has room enough for bathing as well.
Club's Project Completion Report to the donors so they know their money has been spent for the purpose it was intended for
Now the Bongo Health Assistant tells us that there are another three villages in the vicinity of Bongo and Ketokha that are without toilets. He informs us that the villagers there need toilets too. Why not --- as I have always said, we are not Gods that we can decide who needs them and who does not --- if they need it, they know they need it ... thus they shall be entitled to it.
Truly inspiring to see how something as fundamental as proper sanitation can transform communities and save lives. Kudos to the Rotary Club of Thimphu for their invaluable contributions to Bongo and Ketokha villages!
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