February 8, 2024, 6th Day of Bhutan Field Trip
Meetings with the Prime Minister and Queen Mother

14,500 views on Feb. 11, 2024

Hello! Ven. Pomnyun Sunim traveled to Thimphu and held meetings with the Prime Minister and the Queen Mother to discuss the sustainable-development project based on his findings from this field trip.

When Sunim visited Bhutan last August, the King explained his plan to construct a new city in Gelephu and sought Sunim’s advice. So Sunim departed for Gelephu at 3 am. 

Gelephu is an area bordering India that is designated for the Bhutanese government’s mega-city project. Named “Gelephu Mindfulness City,” this ambitious project is driven by the Bhutanese King’s vision,  to develop the region into a state-of-the-art innovation city by designating Gelephu as a special administrative region and establishing an IT center, a medical facility, a university, a spiritual center, and a hydroelectric dam, among other facilities. Sunim decided to drop by Gelephu on his way to Thimphu.

The drivers drove the cars slowly for safety arriving in Gelephu at 8 am. Upon arrival, Sunim was met by Lobzang Dorji, the governor of Sarpang Dzongkhag.

“I’m very sorry for arriving so late.” 

“It’s all right. You must be hungry. Have breakfast first then let’s move to the construction site of Geleph Mega City.”

Lobzang Dorji was cheerful, laughing a lot and telling jokes. He offered to drive Sunim to the site himself and escorted Sunim to his car. On the way, he showed him around the village. 

“In each village, there is a milk distributor who buys milk from each household and sells it collectively. In Bhutan, there’s a belief that encountering a pregnant woman, milk, or a milk container in the morning makes what one wants to accomplish for the day come true. I believe that what Sunim wants to accomplish today will be achieved.”

“I hope the driver speeds up so we don’t fall behind schedule.” 

Everybody laughed. Driving further, large facilities appeared. 

“Those buildings are water-purification facilities. We’ve implemented a purification system for our water supply in Bhutan. Those facilities were constructed by adopting technology learned from Koreans.” 

During Sunim’s recent visit to the green-tea processing facility in Samcholing, Trongsa Dzongkhag, it was mentioned that they learned the technology from Koreans. Similarly, these water-purification facilities have also been constructed based on the technology learned from Koreans. We could feel the affection of Koreans who have visited Bhutan. 

After driving a little further, the car stopped at a vacant lot. Sunim descended the mountain road until he reached a vast plot of land. 

“The site you see below is for the Geleph Megacity Project.”

Standing before the expansive site, we wondered what the planned Megacity Project would eventually look like. Our hope is for the project to succeed without overly transforming Bhutan. 

Lobzang Dorji guided Sunim to downtown Geleph in Sarpang District, near the Indian border. Sunim looked around Geleph for about an hour and then departed for Thimphu. 

Sunim and the field trip team arrived in Thimphu at around 4 pm.

Following a brief meal, Sunim had a meeting with Tshering Tobgay, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, at 5 pm. 

The Prime Minister was newly elected in January this year, and Sunim first congratulated him on his victory in the election. 

“I would like to first congratulate you for having been elected as the prime minister.” 

“Thank you.”

After exchanging greetings, Sunim elaborated on the detailed findings from his four-day trip to Trongsa and Zhemgang. 

What issues have been identified through this field trip to Bhutan?

“Firstly, I believe that the living conditions of residents need improvement. I discovered that approximately 10% lack adequate housing. Another 10% have houses that, although appearing acceptable on the outside, require interior renovation. Overall, there is a pressing need to enhance kitchen facilities. Most importantly, the installation of indoor smoke-free cooking equipment is essential. It seems that residents rely on indoor fires for heating, but indoor smoke should be eliminated. Additionally, their countertops need to be raised to allow women to cook more conveniently. Continuous bending while working may cause back problems for the women. 

“Additionally, when a large family shares a living space, personal space needs to be provided. Partitioning areas for couples and older children can offer privacy. Many poor people seem to sleep on the floor, necessitating mattresses and blankets. In addition to household needs, there is a scarcity of farming tools. Specialized farming equipment can be shared among the residents of each village. While I was able to make a rough assessment of the necessities for household life, I couldn’t specifically examine the food they eat and clothing they wear due to time constraints. 

“Secondly, there appears to be a need for economic activities to generate income. For sustainability, self-sufficiency is essential. Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to explore production facilities. Oranges, green tea, ginger, and coffee seem to be crops that can generate income. Milk and eggs also show promise. Regarding fruit trees and livestock farming, I will bring in experts in these fields to assess the situation. Considering the high elevation of the region, I assumed that there might be many apple trees, but I haven’t noticed any. Youth unemployment is another concern. Young people who have discontinued their education after 10th grade seem to be unemployed.

“When I first began this visit, I thought that providing irrigation facilities for farmland was important. However, during my trip, I realized that most of arable land is situated on mountain slopes and doesn’t necessitate irrigation. On the other hand, acquiring drinking water seems a pressing issue. Increased water usage resulting from improved living conditions and climate change has led to a shortage of drinking water, greatly inconveniencing residents. Ensuring an adequate supply of drinking water poses a significant challenge. Water sources are located at distances ranging from 13–27 km, indicating a need for more investment in this area. 

“Finding a way to protect crops from wildlife damage also seems to be a pressing issue prioritized by residents. They said that electric fences have failed to deter wildlife and installing wire fences is currently deemed the best solution. However, wild boars pose a unique challenge as they can dig underneath wire fences to access crops. While installing concrete underneath the wire fences might deter them, it’s economically infeasible and involves too much labor to implement across all farms. Presently, there seems to be no viable solution to this problem, necessitating further investigation. This issue is of utmost concern to the residents, yet finding a solution seems most challenging. 

“Thirdly, improvements are needed in education and healthcare. School and health center facilities were satisfactory, however healthcare for the elderly was inadequate, likely due to a shortage of doctors, nurses, and other professionals. I believe that healthcare professionals specializing in dental, visual, and auditory health for the elderly are needed. Regarding education, some facilities appear inadequate. However, given the limited number of students, it would be more practical to operate a consolidated school rather than renovating individual ones. Children develop better social skills when they interact with a large group of peers.”

Deeply moved by Sunim’s detailed explanation of his findings, the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude. 

Thank you for having a genuine interest in Bhutan. 

“You are so compassionate. Acquiring insight into the residents’ lives in such a short time requires a deep compassion for people enduring impoverished and difficult circumstances. Many experts have visited villages and offered suggestions, but they were unsatisfactory. This was because they lacked true love and concern for the residents, as well as their failure to approach with humility to listen to their needs. Rather than providing solutions, they merely asked questions. To act upon your suggestions, the Bhutanese government wants to engage in partnership. Above all, your suggestions and insights are very useful. I hope you will prolong your stay in Bhutan and continue visiting more villages.”

“Thank you for agreeing with my opinions. During this trip, I couldn’t figure out what needs to be done to continually generate income for the residents. Since this was my first field trip, there was not enough time to investigate thoroughly. I intend to conduct a more thorough investigation on my next visit. 

“However, we can’t indefinitely postpone the improvement of facilities, so setting up pilot projects would be beneficial. By implementing initiatives such as enhancing housing in select villages, resolving drinking water issues in others, offering healthcare for the elderly in some villages, and experimenting with various types of stove, we can evaluate their effectiveness, identify potential issues, and determine associated costs. Additionally, understanding the budgets allocated by both the local and central governments for this project is crucial for us to decide on any additional support needed.”

“We’ll prepare whatever you need. Please let me know if you need any assistance.” 

Sunim promised a more thorough investigation during his next visit and took a photo with the Prime Minister. 

Sunim then hurried onward to his next meeting. 

Sunim met Dasho Karma Tshiteem, with whom he had a discussion before embarking on his field trip. He had served as the former chairperson of the Royal Civil Service Commission and secretary of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Commission of Bhutan. He welcomed Sunim warmly. 

“Sunim, how was your field trip?”

Sunim shared the findings from this field trip, and after listening to Sunim, Karma Tshiteem gave his opinions. 

“I think the development direction you have identified is correct. Addressing the inconvenient living conditions of the residents is most pressing.”

Sunim has a keen interest in the youth education program led by Karma Tshiteem, and suggested collaborating on a project to encourage young people to remain in rural areas in connection with the youth education program. 

How can we induce young people to remain in rural areas?

“Through this field trip, I realized that improving the residents’ living conditions should be our primary focus. Renovation of indoor amenities to enhance convenience, and implementing a project that enables young people to remain in rural areas are necessary. I believe that it would be beneficial for several young people to establish a collective farm in each village.”

After listening to Sunim’s opinions, Karma Tshiteem made some suggestions.

“I think it is wonderful that you personally observed the residents’ way of life. Your findings don’t surprise me. These areas you visited are the most remote in Bhutan. Due to their geography, farming is very difficult so they have only recently begun to engage in farming. As you rightly pointed out, it’s very important for them to be able to sustain themselves in such environments. Encouraging young people to remain in these areas is vital, but currently, opportunities for the young are severely limited, calling for the introduction of innovative ideas. For example, developing tourism products that leverage the unique cultural characteristics of the area would be a great initiative. 

“I’m glad to hear that you will prioritize addressing the most pressing needs of the residents. Meeting their most urgent needs will instill hope in them, enabling more active discussions on livelihood activities thereafter. 

“I previously operated a program aimed at reducing poverty in specific areas. During this experience, I realized that when facing adversity, people tend to prioritize sacrificing their young children’s education first. When one’s circumstances are difficult, it becomes difficult to see far ahead. Therefore, I think it’s important to encourage the residents to commit to sending their children to school in exchange for providing access to drinking water. It’s necessary to convince them that through long-term investment in education, their children’s lives can improve, even if their own circumstances remain unchanged.”

“I think vocational education is necessary, since not all children can pursue higher education. For example, we could offer support to students who have failed exams between 10th and 12th grades by providing vocational training opportunities.”

“This building was constructed by the young people trained through our education program. Additionally, we’ve provided barista and culinary skills training, and tonight they will cater to tourists. Most of these youths are students who have dropped out of school between 10th and 12th grades. As you mentioned, it’s very important to provide skills training in occupations such as construction, knitting, and cooking to help them secure a steady living.”

“They can participate in building-renovation exercises, even if they can’t construct buildings themselves. I hope you will assist us in implementing village development projects in collaboration with the youths trained in your programs.”

“I think it’s possible, but the problem is that young people don’t want to leave Thimphu to relocate to remote rural areas. So I think it would be more effective to provide training to the youths in those areas.”

“I agree with you. I heard that many empty plots are available in Zhemgang. Supporting the youths in this area to establish collective farms would be beneficial.”

“I think it’s worth trying. I will investigate further how we can go about this.”

There were more topics to discuss but Sunim had another meeting scheduled, so he bid farewell. Sunim promised to make more time for discussion during his next visit. 

Sunim made his way to the Queen Mother’s residence right away. As before, she greeted him warmly. Sunim proceeded to explain his findings from his field trip in detail to the Queen Mother. After their discussion, they enjoyed dinner together. Following the meal, Sunim presented the Queen Mother with a gift of food from Korea. 

Sunim bid farewell to the Queen Mother and quickly made his way to the Bhutan Nuns Foundation (BNF). At 10 pm, Sunim had a scheduled meeting with Cabinet Secretary Kesang Deki, whom he had met on the first day of his trip. Sunim shared his impressions from the trip with her and she responded,

“Thank you for sharing. What should we do next?”

Sunim said, 

What should we do next?

“When I return to Korea, I will send you a detailed report of my findings from this trip. Based on the report, we will decide on survey items that need further investigation for each village. When determining survey items, it’s essential to reach mutual agreement among the central and local governments, JTS, and residents. Once the survey items and target areas are determined, I hope the surveys and pilot projects can be conducted in the first half of this year. By reflecting the results of surveys and pilot projects, an official agreement between JTS and the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) should be achieved. Subsequently, final decisions will be made through negotiations with the relevant dzongkhag, gewok, and chewog.  JTS will cover the material costs of the projects, while the local government will bear the labor costs for construction technicians, with residents providing necessary labor. The projects will be implemented with the participation of all concerned parties. 

“For instance, the benefit of repairing a house accrues to an individual. In deciding which houses to repair, all village members should participate to avoid complaints. During this trip, I visited a chewok with 87 households. I asked them which houses needed repairs and they identified eight, with an agreement that no other houses required repairs. A list of improvement items should be compiled through discussions with residents. Through such discussions and surveys, let’s implement several pilot projects, such as drinking water supply and improvement of kitchen facilities. When the sustainable development project commences in full scale after the pilot projects, an official agreement between JTS and the RGoB should be signed. Following the finalization of development areas, JTS will secure the budget for the five-year development plan. 

“I assessed the status of several villages during this trip. The next steps involve two key actions: first, conducting detailed surveys to determine the target areas; and second, implementing pilot projects. I hope that pilot projects can be executed in 2024, with the sustainable development project following in March or April next year. The project can only commence once the surveys and pilot projects are completed this year.”

Following the meeting with Kesang Deki, Sunim convened an evaluation meeting with those who had accompanied him during this trip. Sunim tasked the JTS staff member responsible for the sustainable development of Bhutan project with compiling a report summarizing the findings from this trip and determining target areas. Sunim asked others to share their impressions of the trip. 

With everyone sharing their thoughts and feelings about this trip, the field trip came to a close.

“Tomorrow, each of you will depart for your respective destinations. Wishing you all a safe journey.”

The evaluation meeting ended at 1 am and Sunim retired to bed.

At 6 am tomorrow morning, from Paro Airport, Sunim and his companions will depart for India, while the others will return to Korea. Sunim will fly to Bodh Gaya and then proceed to Sujata Academy, where he will conduct a week-long staff training session with the Indian staff of JTS.