A Bond So Special - It Is Supernatural!

Even as I was chasing birds - the feathered variety - in the wilderness of Yongkala in the east of the country …. someone in Thimphu even without so much as a by-your-leave, decided to nominate me as a Member of the Rotary Club of Thimphu that was being formed under the aegis of the RGoB in April of 2012. To this day I have no idea who nominated me – but I remain grateful because, as a consequence, I have grown as a human being - I have met people around the world who helped me redefine my views on so many issues. Even more important I met a hoard of kind and generous people spread across the globe - people with whom I remain connected to this day - many years after I hung up my boots at the Club - people who keep alive the Rotary spirit in me even while I no longer play an active part in Rotary activities.

One such person is Past President of Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset, Hawaii – PP Rtn. James Ham, MD. Through his support, a Rotary Global Grant Project was implemented in Bhutan in the year 2022 - related to health and safety - in collaboration with Rotary Club of Thimphu and Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences (KGUMS).

In truth, the connection of PP Rtn. James Ham with Bhutan goes beyond his spirit of giving - his bond with the country transcends the normal - it is in the realm of the supernatural! Please read the following why his bond with Bhutan is special:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-charmed-phallus-of-chimi-lhakhang.html

Master Kinley Jin Ham is now almost 6 years old - please look at the progression of the hulking Drukpa Kuenleg in Hawaii, USA over the years:

I am hoping that he would one day pay a visit to Bhutan.

Will Of Karma

I have said this again and again and again – that in life nothing happens by accident. If anything – things happen because of Karma. If Karma wills it, it can engineer a calamity in one corner of the earth so that another corner might benefit as a result. So it was with the BHUTAN2020 Safe Water Project – launched by the Disaster Aid Australia (DAA) in partnership with the Rotary Club of Thimphu – in 2018.

My private and personal offer of Thanks in gratitude to the principal players of Phase I of BHUTAN2020 Project

The Rotary Club of Thimphu’s single largest project – BHUTAN2020 – can be said to be a child of Karma - born of tragedy and misfortune. It was never meant to be – but for a devastating natural calamity that struck Nepal in 2015 and yet another minor one in September of 2017.

I believe that without the guiding hands of Karma, one of Bhutan’s most meaningful humanitarian projects would have never happened. Please read all about it here:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2020/12/down-memory-lane-karmic-bhutan2020.html

Another evidence of the hand of Karma is that – in 2017 when the fire that set ablaze the idea that eventually lead to the conception of BHUTAN2020 project …. His Excellency Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay was the Chief Guest for the Rotary Conference held then. Today, seven years since, when another Rotary Conference was inaugurated on the 1st of June, 2024, His Excellency Lyoenchen Tshering Tobgay is yet again the Conference’s Chief Guest.

I get this eerie feeling that COVID-19 was engineered by Karma - so that it can disrupt the Conference that was scheduled to take place in 2020 – in order that it can be postponed until 2024 when the stars would come together to create a favorable condition when His Excellency Lyoenchen Tshering Tobgay could once again be re-elected to office so that he may, yet again, inaugurate the 2nd Rotary Conference as its Chief Guest.

And, I believe that Act 3 of Karma has been the passage of a rare event – that of the convergence in Thimphu - of all the three principal actors in the BHUTAN2020 Project saga. Present in the recently concluded Rotary Conference in Thimphu on 3rd June, 2024 were: Mr. David Langworthy MAICD OAM™, the past CEO of Disaster Aid Australia (DAA) who had the courage, and the guts, to put such a monumental show on the road; Mr. Brian Ashworth the incumbent CEO of DAA whose unwavering tenacity and selflessness to deliver and see through a promise that was not his own and, above all, the presence of the most eminent Mr. Rhett Butler AM™, inventor of a patented water filtration system known as the SkyHydrant that is at the center of the project BHUTAN2020. Mr. Butler heads the SkyJuice Foundation – an Australia-based not-for-profit organization that aspires to provide safe drinking water to every child on this planet earth.

The launch of BHUTAN2020 Safe Water Project in Toronto, Canada in 2018

And, last but not the least, Karma keeps me alive and kicking – so that I may live long enough to tell this tale of boundless kindness and generosity that benefits tens of thousands of Bhutan’s school children, including the communities domiciled in the peripheries of their institutions of learning. Beyond the tens of millions that flow into Bhutan ceaselessly year after year – it is a story of success and achievement that is worth emulating across boundaries and generations.

Kadrinchey!

™ AM        =  Member of the Order of Australia

       MAICD   =  Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
       OAM       =  Medal of the Order of Australia

Six Years Since : Down Memory Lane

Hi Andrew,

Greetings from Bhutan.

I learn with great pleasure that you are still with DAA and busy installing SkyHydrants.

Although I am not in the Rotary anymore .... DAA honors me by continuing to send me their Quarterly News Letters and the recent one (received yesterday evening – 23/10/2023) tells me that you are currently busy in Nepal .... doing the same things you do best --- installing SkyHydrants.

Please keep up the good work ...... !!!

I cannot thank you enough --- for your role in "BHUTAN2020 Project". It is now into its 5th year. As you are aware DAA has successfully delivered its first three years, one million dollars Safe Water Project ----- for 120 of Bhutan's largest schools. No doubt you know that DAA has been kind enough to renew the project for another three years. From all accounts ----- things are going well and on track ...... Thanks to your "batting" (in your own words) for Bhutan after your first trip to Bhutan as a DART Member of DAA in 2017. You may recall that I was the first Bhutanese you met - upon landing at Paro airport when you arrived from Nepal on 30th September, 2017 - to deliver two of DAA's first SkyHydrant water filter systems for Bhutan.

Launch of the three years BHUTAN2020 Project in Toronto, Canada on 25th June, 2018. Under the project Bhutan received 120 SkyHydrant Projects for installation in 120 of Bhutan's largest schools. The project has been renewed for further three years for the same number of these patented water filer systems.

Bye and take care ... and Thank You once again. Do you bump into any Bhutanese down under? There are many thousand Bhutanese studying and working there in places like Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney etc. Should you come to know of any opportunities that might be suitable for them, please do not forget to "bat" for them as well ---- as you did for thousands of Bhutanese students after your first trip here.

MoE's Letter of Appreciation to DAA

Please convey my VERY BEST to Phillip Gribble another of DAA's DART Member who accompanied you to Bhutan during your second trip - to deliver four of the first six units donated by DAA - before the start of the BHUTAN2020 Project.

Safe Water: The Gift Of Life

Hi Brian,

Thank you for the link to the video .... I went through the whole video till the end.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxA-qyouG42jJGrzm0kwYP8nTWOJGTiI3

It was truly nostalgic. I may have resigned ... but my heart is still there ----- in the Rotary.

The launch of BHUTAN2020 Project at the Rotary Convention in Toronto, Canada in 2018

At $ one million, our BHUTAN2020 Project is Rotary Club of Thimphu's single largest humanitarian project, and among the most meaningful. It benefits a few hundred thousand school children and teachers across the country, including, in some cases, even their parents. The Ist Phase of SkyHydrant 120 filters were already successfully installed during my tenure. Five days back I visited the Rotary office and I noticed that 5 filters from the IInd Phase is already in the country - I thank you for keeping the project alive and on track.

Map showing installation sites of 20 SkyHydrant water filters by July 2018

But one worry that had dogged me during the entire duration of my tenure in RC Thimphu was the fear that school authorities could be numbed into a false sense of safety - that since there is a good filtration system installed in the school that everything would be hunky dory. People tend to forget that the very best of systems are prone to failure - that one must never be complacent.

Safeguarding our children

In my capacity as the Club Secretary I did all I could to try and ensure that the school Principals remain vigilant - that the filters are not malfunctioning. The only way to ensure that is by running regular tests to make sure that the filters are dispensing safe water. The schools have been required to make sure that they have the health authorities test the water dispensed by the filters every 2-3 months. It is my hope that the requirement is not abandoned, for the sake of school children’s health.

By the way, you may have heard that thousands of Bhutanese youth are heading for Australia - for education and livelihood. Please keep a look out for any job openings for them. I suddenly realized that NOTHING, but NOTHING, can beat the Rotary network - please spread the word among the Rotary fraternity in Australia. I think this is a great idea - particularly considering that a majority of the sponsors for the SkyHydrant water filters are Rotarians, or institutions owned and run by Rotarians.

Bye and take care ... and I hope you will have the patience to keep going with the good work.

Yeshey

Footprints On The Sands of Time

Do you hope to leave your footprints on the sands of time? There are some who do not consider this question relevant - and then again there are some who do - many, many time zones away from their own realm. One such person is Past President of the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset of Hawaii - Rotarian Dr. James Ham who visited Bhutan as a tourist and left behind his footprint.

The recently concluded Rotary Club of Thimphu Project held in Thimphu in Wilderness Emergency Medical Treatment – a First Aid course specifically aimed at training Bhutan’s trekking guides in how to respond and treat/evacuate emergency cases in wilderness situations, was an initiative spearheaded by Rotarian Dr. James Ham, upon request by the Rotary Club of Thimphu.

The story of how this came about is a story that is rather out of the ordinary.

Rotarian Dr. James visited Bhutan during November of 2018, along with his childless wife of many years. During the visit, someone suggested that the couple visit Chimmi Lhakhang known as the Temple of Fertility. They did, and quite extraordinarily, the wife was pregnant on the first moth of the visit to the temple.

Exactly nine months later, at 6:54AM on 10th August, 2019 a healthy son weighing 5 pounds 13 ounces, 20 inches was born to the couple.

They named their son Kinley Jin Ham.

Past President of Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset, Hawaii Rotarian Dr. James Ham with his wife on a trip to Taktsang in November 2018.

Little Dukpa Kinley in Honolulu, Hawaii, the day he was born.

The good doctor and I worked relentlessly on the wilderness medicine project. Then, to our dismay, the scourge called COVID-19 hit the world and delayed the project indefinitely. But we did not lose hope - finally this month, after over three years of delay, the project got implemented - a meaningful project that is a collaborative work between: Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset, Hawaii, Rotary Club of Thimphu, University of Utah, USA and the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences (KGUMS), Thimphu.

With the conclusion of this project, we now have in-country competence to train additional guides in handling emergency cases in wilderness situation. It is planned that a continuous training program will be put in place - to train trekking guides on a regular basis.

Unfortunately with the introduction of the US$200.00 SDF per person per day, and withdrawal of long duration discounts, trekking as a tourism product is no longer seen as marketable, including bird watching tours that are long duration products.

Add to that, the imposition of SDF on the visits by donors is a spanner in the works. I am told that a large number of projects funded by the WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, FAO and a large number of Bhutan's struggling NGOs now remain stalled - and may never happen because the planned projects did not budget for this sudden change in policy. 

My Remaining Few Days in the Rotary

I have just two more days with the Rotary. Thus my final journey with the Rotary will be spent writing notes of Thank You to the network of donors spread across the globe - for their generous contributions to the cause of Bhutan and the Bhutanese people.

The insignia of Hope and Deliverance

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dear ………………….,

Greetings from Bhutan. It is my hope that this would find you and your family safe and in good health.

I am not sure if I have already informed you – if not this is my official intimation of my departure from the Rotary institution – not just the Rotary Club of Thimphu. Actually I had intended that I would depart at the end of June, 2021 but something came up and it was not appropriate for me to leave, thus I had to stay on for some more time.

As of 1st January, 2022, I will be focusing on my own life and affairs that have been on hold for the past 6 years – because I had to devote my time fully to the affairs of the Club, in my capacity as the Club’s Secretary, beginning from RI Year 2015-2016, until now. But now I am absolved of my out-of-turn responsibility and, thus, nothing will hold me back in the Rotary beyond December 31, 2021.

I will be suspending all communications with everybody - whether Club Members or international donor partners – on matters related to Rotary. But I will be available to all – any time and anywhere – on matters unrelated to Rotary.

I have already relinquished my post as the Club’s Secretary – preparatory to my departure, as of July 1, 2021. A new Club Secretary has taken charge as of this new RI Year and he and the Club President and the Sector Chairs will henceforth handle all matters related to Club work.

Attached to this mail are the contact details of R C Thimphu’s Club officials who are current as of this writing. I urge you to henceforth address all communications to them – depending on who you think is appropriate.

Thank you for making my journey with the Rotary a meaningful one. With your support I have been able to serve my community for the past six years as the Club Secretary – and ten years as a Rotarian. Please know that it is my belief that if there were anything called a House of God – the Rotary would be counted as that House.

If I have time and again taken advantage of your generosity – please forgive me – but know that in so doing, you gave meaning and hope to many in Bhutan. If I have knocked at your door more often then I should, please know that I did so because I happen to believe that a rich man is one who has the heart to give – I never, ever knock on a wealthy poor man’s door.

In parting, please accept my Thanks for your role in my success and in the success of my Club. You may be happy to know that by end of RI Year 2021-2022, with support from generous donors like yourself, in a short span of nine years since our Charter in 2012, the country’s lone Rotary Club will have delivered over Nu.150.00 million worth of community service projects across the length and breadth of the country.

I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a SUCCESSFUL & A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR. May you live long and happy so that you may continue to do good in this world.

Bye and take care …. I remain, most gratefully,

Yours in Rotary

Thank You, Again and Again

A friend in Portugal who is an officer working in the Portuguese government’s taxation department writes me a mail yesterday which reads as follows - upon being informed that I am resigning from the Rotary institution – not just the Rotary Club of Thimphu:

Hey,

I hope it has been a fulfilling task and I’m sure you’re leaving it better than you encountered it. I expect you to get some rest and pay a visit to this marvellous sunny country now that you have the time.

Certainly I am leaving behind a Club that is a much better and more buoyant institution – as I depart at the end of this month. Even going beyond the Club, I am leaving my footprint at The Rotary Foundation:

My last act at the cusp of my departure from this great institution – is to give back to The Foundation a small contribution – as a mark of THANK YOU for the millions it has given to Bhutan and the Bhutanese people. Even beyond that, it is my way of offering Ngendah to an institution that I believe makes a difference at a global scale.

If there is any such thing as a House of God, The Rotary Foundation is one such House.

Thank You From The Rotary Foundation (TRF)

Day before yesterday I received a mailer from the TRF seeking contribution to their funds that go to support humanitarian projects across the world. Promptly I request my friend in Boston, USA to make the contribution on my behalf. An hour back I received the following confirmation from the TRF that my humble contribution has been received into their Annual Fund.

Acknowledgement of my humble contribution to The Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund

I wish I could contribute more – we owe it to the Foundation. Few in Bhutan know that by the end of this Rotary year ending in June, 2022, the global Rotary community, with matching grant from the TRF, would have pumped in over Nu.150.00 millions, in aid money that went on to support Health, Education and Agriculture. By the end of next RI Year 2022-2023, we will cross the Nu.200.00 millions mark.

The Rotary Club of Thimphu is like no other NGO in Bhutan, in fact in the whole world. While other NGOs in Bhutan and elsewhere apply part of their donor gifted funds to support themselves and their organizations, we are the only NGO in the country that does not use a single Chettrum of the millions of project funds we receive. Every single Chettrum of project funds is used to implement projects for the people of Bhutan. We are the only NGO whose Members do not receive salaries, or TA/DA or reimbursements of expenses for the work we do for the community - ours is 100% voluntary service. Our travels are self-financed. In fact even the office rent, staff salary and Internet time is paid for out of the contributions collected from Club Members. Even the tea and snacks we consume during our weekly meetings is financed by contributions from the members – through collection of what is called Sunshine Money. Until mid last month every meeting we attended, we contributed Nu.100.00 for tea and snacks. But from end last month this contribution has been increased to Nu.150.00 per Member since we realized that it was not enough. The Club’s Secretariat is supported from the Membership Fees collected from its 25 Club Members – both active and honorary.

The Rotary Club of Thimphu is a gift to the people and the Kingdom of Bhutan - from the erstwhile DPT government. They spearheaded and financed the creation and Charter of the Club, in 2012. DPT’s Home and Cultural Affairs Minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji has the distinction and the privilege of being the country's only Rotary Club’s first and Charter President.

It is my hope that the creators and the progenitors of the Club are proud of their legacy – because I dare say that we have far exceeded their wildest expectations.

Chasing Nirvana

Dear ……….. ,

Thank you for your mail.

It may come as a surprise to you – but I had never intended to be a Rotarian – I was shooting birds in the Eastern parts of the country when some cheeky fellow nominated me to be a member when the Rotary Club of Thimphu was being formed, in 2012. But once I got to understand the mechanics of how Rotary works, I realized that here was an opportunity to do real good for my community. Rotary institution is like no other.

I began with the belief that I owe it to my community – to sacrifice time and money – because I realized that the Rotary institution can, and has, brought meaningful impacts to nations and societies. But over time, I came to the realization that I am among only less than a handful who thought on those lines. Yet I continued to keep at it – with the belief that I cannot lose heart because some idiots are incapable of doing their jobs – only to come face to face with the reality that I am up against a whole gaggle of them, who couldn’t care less.

Finally the question – how much can one man do and for how long?

I put my own business and personal interests on the back burner for the past six and a half years (that is how long I have been the Club Secretary) – at the end I am getting more and more burnt out and, even more dangerous, I am getting terribly disillusioned and beginning to wonder if there is any merit in the Rotary maxim “Service Above Self” – I am beginning to arrive at that dangerous threshold where I am wont to imagine that this one has begun to sound muted and lacking in resonance. But I know that that is not true - I am still of the firm belief that the Rotary dictum has not lost its sheen – it is the mindless beneficiaries who cannot fathom their good fortune that there is an organization called Rotary that can bring meaning into their lives.

In closing, you have understood correctly – YES, I am leaving Rotary and going to do some serious photography work and finish my coin book and work on the second edition of my bird book.

Star-spangled night sky at Sinchae, Lunana. My Cabela's Extreme Weather dome tent is all lighted up from inside - under a night sky dazzled by a trillion shimmering stars.

I am going to go on treks and lie on my back atop a freezing peak and photograph a few trillion stars dazzling up the night skies.

I am going to chase Nirvana.

Bye and take care.

BREAKING NEWS

Energy Globe Award for Rotary Club of Thimphu’s BHUTAN2020 Project

During an official ceremony on 10th November, 2021, Rotary Club of Thimphu’s signature project “BHUTAN2020”, in collaboration with Disaster Aid Australia (DAA), was awarded the “ENERGY GLOBE AWARD”. The project, which was launched in Toronto, Canada in 2018, was assessed for the award - against hundreds of thousands of other projects implemented around the world.

This achievement is even more significant considering that the Club is being recognized during a time when the entire humanity is rendered asunder by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More on the award at the following:

https://www.energyglobe.info/national/winner/bhutan

WHAT IS THE AWARD FOR

The Energy Globe Award honors the best projects addressing environmental issues since 20 years. This award takes place at an international level. The independent Energy Globe Foundation, Austria, organizes the award.

The one million dollars BHUTAN2020 project is the Rotary Club of Thimphu’s single largest humanitarian project ever – we have never done or are ever likely to do a project at this scale.

Under this project, the Rotary Club of Thimphu, with funding from the DAA, pledged to donate 120 patented SkyHydrant water filters to a like number of Bhutan’s largest schools.  Given that water quality is poor in the South, our emphasis is for schools in the South of the country.

So far 111 of these filters have been installed in schools spread across the country – not a single one of the 20 Dzongkhags (Districts) have been left out.

The project is nearing completion – only 9 of the 120 filters remain to be installed. Of that 3 are already in the country – ready for installation.

Provided the precious civil servants and the related government agencies are willing to do their part, the Rotary Club of Thimphu is all poised to embark on the Phase II of BHUTAN2020. Our international partners are firm in their commitment that they want to extend the project beyond 2023. Even more encouraging for thousands of Bhutanese children, our international partners have agreed that Phase II will be all encompassing - the project will henceforth include children of qualifying private schools as well.

Launch of the Project BHUTAN2020 during the Rotary Convention in 2018

Three models of the patented SkyHydrant water filters that are being installed in 120 schools across Bhutan

Logo of the Award Winning Project

The Club officials hand over a number of SkyHydrant water filters to the officials of the Ministry of Education

Even as my time with the Rotary is nearing its end, and I have sworn to severe all ties with the great institution called Rotary by end December 2021, it is my hope that this project will continue to see the light of day. There is no reason why it shouldn’t – provided each player is willing to do his/her part.

In parting I would like to say that Bhutan missed out on a rare opportunity to recognize one of its own – but we are happy that the Energy Globe has seized the opportunity to do so – we thank the organization.

FRUSTRATED But Life Must Go On

Putting in 16-17 hours of work everyday for the past six and a half years in the belief that it will make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate and who stand in need for things that I am fortunate enough to be able to help provide, is, by everyone’s account, a meritorious act that is guaranteed to reserve me a berth in the heavens in my afterlife. The long-drawn-out journey has not sapped my energy one bit – but same thing cannot be said of my emotional wellbeing – it has taken a severe beating. I am frustrated but I refuse to be maimed by the experience.

At the end of my journey with the Rotary, which should have terminated at the end of June this year – I have come to realize that I too have been as stupid as – Tenzin Rigden. As intelligent and smart as he is acknowledged to be, he committed a terminal error of judgment:

Sending the world’s laziest people – to a nation filled with the world’s hardest working people – Japan. For crying out loud – WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

In the same vein – what was I thinking? That I can make a difference to a people who have been anaesthetized by Kidu – from cradle to grave? – to a bunch of people who has become accustomed to getting everything free on their platters – without putting in an iota of effort to earn what they receive?

As the prime mover and shaker in the Rotary Club of Thimphu – I have on number of occasions had to deal with civil servants – the only lot of people in Bhutan today who remain absolutely unaffected by the pandemic that has ravaged every other sector in the country. The civil servants remain stoical in their incompetence and lethargy. This lot simply and utterly fail to come to grips with the difficulties that the nation is currently going through. They are still chasing their fat salaries, their TA/DA, their undeserved car and duty free quotas, while other Bhutanese suffer the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, His Majesty is supposed to have, finally, come out and said a mouthful to the civil servants. As we all know, He has been gearing up for the moment – please read the following to know what I mean:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2018/12/that-creed-of-humanoids-called-civil.html

Unfortunately, as part of the whole, I too must suffer because of their greed and incompetence – and I am suffering. I can act – but if I do, the repercussions would be not that which I aspire for. But I do have a choice – I can always opt out any time I want, and I am doing so.

But His Majesty cannot – He is the last stop. The luxury of giving up is not in His job description. Thus He too must continue to suffer – the pain and frustration of helplessness - in the face of so much mindlessness and irresponsibility.

The Rotary Club of Thimphu Is Yet Again At It!

As always we are frantically busy delivering humanitarian service during these painful times. This time it is a small school in Samtse – a school by the name of Sang Ngag Choeling Lower Secondary School - with students numbering a little over 300. To safeguard the children from the COVID-19 virus, the school authorities requested the Club for Hand Washing Stations and some Face Masks. And we were happy to oblige. The school Principal picked up the PPEs a few days back from our office in Thimphu.

The Club President, Club Secretary and Community Service Director of the Club hand-over two units of Hands Free Hand Washing Station and 1,005 Nos. of reusable fabric Face Masks to the Principal of Sang Ngag Choeling Lower Secondary School

Not to be outdone, the Lakhu Primary School in Punakha wanted us to help with electrification of their bathrooms and toilets. Few hours back, our Executive Secretary conveyed to the school Principal – to go ahead and start the wiring and purchase of whatever is needed – to electrify their toilets and bathrooms. Our Club Members approved the needed budget during our last Weekly Meeting on Friday.

By this afternoon, our Club will be delivering 4 more hands-free Hand Washing Stations to Gelephu based “Friends of the Frontliners” – a group responsible for initiating the construction of a soon to open 200-bedded Quarantine Center in Gelephu. Two of the stations are due to be installed at this Center and the other two will be installed at the entry gate at the border adjoining the Indian border. The request was generated by our Gelephu based Club Member Rtn. Dawa Penjor who is a Member of the  group “Friends of the Frontliners”.

4 Nos. of hands-free Hand Washing Station for the “Friends of the Frontliners” of Gelephu

Few months back the Club had donated 83 of these hands-free systems to Thimphu Thromde - for installation at places of mass gathering and heavy human traffic.

In the coming days we will be handing over a 12,000 ltrs. capacity SkyHydrant water filter to the newly opened school in Phadhuna in Punakha, established to accommodate the relocated students from Phuentsholing numbering some 887 students. The filter is already installed and was ready before the children arrived.

It is getting a little hectic – but hey!, this is SERVICE TO THE TSA WA SOOM – at its humblest!

One For The Hilltop

The Rotary Club of Thimphu continues to deliver humanitarian service – unabated. The latest in the series of projects we implemented was the delivery and installation of a 12,000 liters capacity, gravity activated, patented, SkyHydrant water filter at the Tango Center for Buddhist Studies. The filter is large enough to cater to the needs of both the Tango Dzong as well as the institute.

SPBD's Engineer Sonam Norbu handed over the filters on behalf of the Club

This 3-years, one million Australian Dollars project is a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education and the Rotary Club of Thimphu. The funding is provided by Disaster Aid Australia – a Rotary created NGO based in Melbourne.

Lonely But Busy As Hell

Rotary Club of Thimphu is the lone Rotary Club in Bhutan. It was chartered in 2012 under the aegis of the DPT government. Since then, the Club has never looked back.

We may be lonely, but certainly we are among the world’s busiest Rotary Clubs - even in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, including seven projects that are currently in the pipeline, the Rotary Club of Thimphu has completed 91 community service projects, valued at over Nu.140.00 million.

While a large section of the Bhutanese population has been rendered jobless and hapless, the Club officials at the Rotary Club of Thimphu have been running helter-skelter – handing over projects and delivering project equipment. In the middle of the raging pandemic, we are proud to have have been able to deliver the following:

21st October, 2020

The following photo is from the Club’s archives – it shows the Club's Past President Rtn. Dr. Lam Dorji and Foundation Chair Rtn. Tshering Choki handing over the donation of a 30 Kgs. per charge capacity medical waste incinerator to the officials of the Ministry of Health. This is the first of three units being donated by the Club to the Ministry of Health. This unit was destined to be installed at Memelakha, for use by the JDWNRH, Thimphu.

First of the three units of medical waste incinerators being handed over to the Health Ministry officials

July 6, 2021:

Handed over a 100 Kgs. per charge capacity medical incinerator to Paro Dzongkhag Health officials, including Dzongkhag authorities. This is the second of the three medical waste incinerators that our Club is donating to the Health sector – to combat COVID-19 pandemic. This one is due to be installed at Paro.

Second of the three units - this one a 100 Kgs per charge capacity medical waste incinerator - being handed over to the Health and Dzongkhag officials of Paro Dzongkhag.

July 7, 2021:

Handed over another 30Kgs capacity medical waste incinerator to the Ministry of Health – represented by Ms. Pem Zam, Infection Control Program Officer, MoH. This is the last of the total three medical waste incinerators that our Club is donating to the Health sector – to combat COVID-19 pandemic. This unit is destined for Nanglam Government Hospital. With the handing over of this unit, the Rotary Club of Thimphu completes its Medical Waste Incinerator Project with the Ministry of Health – valued at a total of Nu.6.5 millions.

Last of the three units of medical waste incinerator being handed over to the Health Ministry official - this one is destined to be installed in Nanglam, Eastern Bhutan.

July 8, 2021:

One of the Club’s principal areas of focus is agriculture production. In line with this area of focus, we handed over the completed construction of a mushroom incubation and harvesting shed - measuring 60’ in length and costing Nu.583,000.00. The project was handed over to the group leader of a women farmer group in Phangyul village, Wangduephodrang. The funding for this came from a private donor and Rotary Club of Brooklyn Bridge, USA.

A 60' long mushroom incubating and growing shed being handed over to the farmer group leader accompanied by local government officials and Agriculture sector representative.

July 8, 2021:

The same day before the above handing over ceremony, the Club officials visited a very remote school in Punakha called Lakhu Primary School. The school wanted one additional water filter – we had already donated one earlier. After the visit it was ascertained that they really do not need the additional filter since the student enrolment is less than a hundred. The matter will be discussed further among Club Members to see if it would be more meaningful to support them with installation of electricity in their bathrooms that are currently without electricity.

Water filter that was supplied sometime back by the Rotary Club of Thimphu - working very well at Lakhu Primary School, Punakha

July 9, 2021:

The last in the series of project implementations for this month, we handed over a 12,000 lts. per day capacity SkyHydrant water filter to Dechenchholing Higher Secondary School in Thimphu. Dechenchholing HSS has the country’s largest number of students – totaling close to 2,000 including teaching and support staff. This is part of our Club’s ongoing project valued at AUS$1.00 million – to supply safe drinking water to Bhutan’s largest educational institutions - in collaboration with Disaster Aid Australia. Installation of all the promised 120 filters will be completed this September – the last of the 23 units are in stock with us - awaiting installation. The progress of installations have been rather slow due to limitations placed by the pandemic.

The Past Presidnet Dr. Lam Dorji handing over the SkyHydrant water filter to the Vice Principal of Dechenchholing HSS

There is no respite - in the coming weeks, I start work on a funding proposal for a agriculture project in Chhukha Dzongkhag, followed by a number of COVID-19 related projects to help the government contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Amazing Institution Called Rotary

The Rotary Year 2020-2021 is about to end. And our Club is thanked for our contribution to humanity. Every year a number of Club Members of the Rotary Club of Thimphu make personal contribution to the Rotary International’s World Fund. This year too we did our part – most of our Members donated personal money for the cause of the Rotary.  Ofcourse what we contributed is not even one thousandth of what the Rotary community contributed to Bhutan. But it is about leaving our footprint – which we have never failed to do, year after year.

Although the above Thank You Note is addressed to me personally, in reality the Club is being thanked. My name appears since in my capacity as its Secretary, I am the primary contact for The Rotary Foundation (TRF)

This Rotary year, the global community of Rotarians has helped do humanitarian projects worth US$139.00 million across the glob. You can imagine – if the Rotary Foundation can do so much in a pandemic year, how much would have been done during normal times.

It is an amazing institution made up of amazing people with equally amazing spirit of giving.

Rotary Club of Thimphu is Honored

Few months back, an independent international consultant contacted me with a request to contribute a write up, on what we at the Rotary Club of Thimphu, considered our most meaningful community service project. The article was sought for inclusion in the Rotary International magazine. Two things were to be understood clearly:

1.  The project I choose should not be one funded with funding from the Rotary Foundation

2.  It is not necessary that the project and the write-up I submit will feature in the Rotary magazine since the project and the write-up would be assessed at the global level – among over 35,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide, made up of over 1.2 million Rotary members.

I chose our 3-years signature project – “BHUTAN2020” that was launched in 2018 and which will be concluded this September.

Under this project valued at AS$ 1.00 million, the Rotary Club of Thimphu with support from Disaster Aid Australia (DAA), would deliver 120 patented SkyHydrant water filters to 120 of Bhutan’s largest schools.

If it were not for the pandemic, we would have successfully concluded the project last month itself – two months ahead of schedule. The fact that the Rotary International featured our project on their magazine, in preference to million other endeavors, means that we did well.

Newsworthy News

The Rotary Club of Thimphu is honored to be partnering with a newsworthy Rotarian – Immediate Past President James Ham of Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset, Hawaii, USA. He is among the six Rotarians worldwide who has received the rare honor of being recognized as one of the “Six Rotary members honored as People of Action: Champions of Health”. To be picked as one of six from among close to three million Rotarians around the world, is certainly an achievement worth tooting about. We are proud of our association with the great achiever. Please read about it at the following:

https://my.rotary.org/en/six-rotary-members-honored-as-people-of-action-champions-of-health?utm_source=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_medium=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_profile=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&utm_campaign=PANTHEON_STRIPPED

The achiever Rotarian is the Immediate Part President (IPP) of the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunset, Hawaii, USA. He and his Club is currently working on a project with the Rotary Club of Thimphu – in the area of building in-country capacity in Wilderness Emergency Medical Treatment – a First Aid course specifically aimed at training the trekking guides of Bhutan in how to respond and treat/evacuate emergency cases in wilderness situations. The project, when implemented, will be a collaborative endeavor among: RC Honolulu Sunset, Hawaii, RC Thimphu, University of Utah, USA and the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences (KGUMS), Thimphu. Additionally, we hope to be able to rope in the industry stalwarts and stakeholders - TCB, ABTO and GAB.

Rotarian James Ham’s connection with Bhutan does not begin or end with the above project – it goes a lot deeper.

The childless Rotarian visited Bhutan with his wife sometime during November of 2018. During the visit he heard of the famed Chimmi Lhakhang and how it is known to have helped childless couple beget children. The couple visited the lhakhang and received blessings from Lam Drukpa Kinley’s relic.

Exactly nine months later, at 6:54AM on 10th August, 2019 a son weighing 5 pounds 13 ounces, 20 inches was born to the couple.

They named the son Kinley Jin Ham.

Please read further at the following:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-charmed-phallus-of-chimi-lhakhang.html

Rotarian Dr. James Ham is due to return to Bhutan as one of the instructors, when our joint project on wilderness medicine begins – hopefully this year-end or early next year.

I would have long resigned from the Rotary by then - but as he said in his last mail yesterday - "I’m sad to hear you will be leaving Rotary - it is a huge loss to the entire Rotary community.  As always, thank you for your work and help with this grant, and I will always consider you as a lifelong friend."

Likewise, I too will be around to renew my acquaintances with the great achiever, when he does get back to Bhutan.

Hand Washing Stations for Thimphu City

The Rotary Club of Thimphu is yet again at it - endeavoring to provide protection and safeguards to the Bhutanese people - against the dreaded COVID-19 virus. On two occasions, the RGoB had declined to accept our offer to do fund raising for purchase of vaccines. Undeterred, the Rotary Club of Thimphu ventured into other areas where we know help is needed.

Yesterday we handed over 83 imported Hand Washing Stations to Thimphu Thromde. The Thromde will install these hands-free stations at locations of mass congregation, community centers, schools, hospitals, parks etc.

The Club President hands over the Hand Washing Stations to Thimphu City's alpha Chaangphagla

We are aware that one of the best safeguards against infection by the virus is hand-washing at regular intervals. Thus, we are working on supply and delivery of additional close to 100 more units. With about 200 units spread across the city, it is our hope that the country's largest city will be adequately protected from the virus.

One Of Many Community Service Projects By The Rotary Club of Thimphu

 Dear Club President,

Greetings from Bhutan and the Rotary Club of Thimphu. I hope you and your other Club Members are keeping well and safe during these difficult times.

In my capacity as the Club President, I write to offer you our heartfelt thanks, on behalf of the people of Bhutan. In recent months, Bhutan has seen a surge in COVID-19 infections. As a result, Thimphu and Paro have been under lockdown for the past over one month. We have been advised to remain indoors, other than a trip to the grocery shop – for two hours a day, to buy food and other essentials.

While the times are difficult and bring sadness and difficulty to many, Khengrig Namsum Cooperative (KNC) in Zhemgang sends us very heartwarming images of how they have been able to help, in these difficult times when entry into and out of the country is not allowed, including ban on vehicular movements. Their group has been enlisted by the government authorities and issued with special movement permits - to transport and deliver fruits and vegetables from Zhemgang to Thimphu and other places in Bhutan. It should give you great satisfaction to know that they are using the farm tractor that was donated by your Club and District, with partial funding from the TRF – at a total cost of Nu.1.426 million. When other vehicles are not allowed to move, your tractor has special permission to move about – to collect and deliver fruits and vegetables to places where they are in short supply.

The Rotary Club of Thimphu offers our thanks for your timely help. The tractor we donated is now used for a very noble cause – to reach food to people who are in lockdown because of COVID-19. I am happy to submit herewith the following photos:

Photos 1&2: farm tractor being loaded with fruits and vegetables under the strict watch of the DeSuup. Photo 3: Farm Tractor that was donated to KNC. Photo 4: Donor Club Members and R C Thimphu Club Secretary make a day trip by helicopter to Zhemgang, to hand over the project to the beneficiaries that included solar fencing.

Please share the photos and our Thank You Letter with Members of your Club and District, while at the same time, offering them our Greetings and Felicitations.

Club President

Rotary Club of Thimphu