Losar Tashi Delek

Patiently begin

anew in the light of dawn

as the sun's light builds

Happy New Year! It is Losar, or the new year, of the Water Male Dragon in Bhutan. Thus, we have 2 days of holiday from school. In addition, it was His Majesty the 5th King's Birth Anniversary as well as National Education Day yesterday, which we celebrated with a cultural program put on by the students at school.

We spent the past week preparing dances and songs with the students for this event. I took on teaching an English song to a group of Class 3, 4, 5, and 6 students (about 24 in all). They learned the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, which I thought fit well with the theme of education. The song is all about imagining a better world free of the suffering we bring on each other. This type of imagination is often the gift of education- the ability to imagine alternate and better worlds, as well as the means to create them. In teaching the song, I found the students to be very excited to learn and they took the task very seriously.

Even so, in these grades you always have a couple of boys who like to swat at each other when the teacher turns their back (this must be universal among young boys- it has happened in all of my teaching experiences!). Once I saw this happening, I took it as an opportunity to underline the message of the song and the importance of non-violence in education. I told the students that the song was about a world without violence, full of peace, and that to sing the song, we had to have peace in our hands, in our feet, in our hearts, in our minds. If they were not able to hold that peace in their bodies, hearts, and minds, then as a consequence they would not be able to join us in singing the song. I also told them that violence is like taking a step backward, and education and peace are steps forward. So if they hoped to continue on to bigger and better things in life (higher education, a happy life...) they needed to take steps forward, not backward. This stuck, amazingly enough, and so the next time I saw a boy raise his hand to another, I held up my two fingers in the sign of peace and the boy stopped and did the same, saying "oh, yes, peace, peace Miss". The next day, as I walked up to school and the children were greeting me, many of my roughhousing boys greeted me with "Peace!". I am not going to let this drop throughout the year. I am going to continue to push the message of peace as moving us forward, it is already taking hold and all I have to do is continue to reinforce it and make it part of our school culture.

Now, on to the other facts of our school: we have a small staff and small amount of students compared to what I am used to. There is the Principal, 3 women teachers (including me), 2 other male teachers (3, if you count the principal, who also teaches!), and a support staff person. There may be one other woman teacher coming to join us if she does not begin a training program this year. There are about 130 students in our school, compared to the 570 something at Anwatin. This encompasses Classes PP (Kindergarten)- 6.

A big difference I have noticed in being at school here is that the students are given a great deal of responsibility, and carry it out. They are invested in their school. They clean the grounds and the classrooms, they raise the flag, they open the building, and so much more. I remarked to one of the teachers that my students in the US would not believe their eyes, but also that the teachers in the US might not trust the students to carry out this work with honesty and diligence, as they do here. Taking care of your physical environment, investing in it, makes you less likely to destroy it and more likely to show the space respect, this is an observable fact here.

We have not started official classes yet, but each morning we have met to practice the cultural program and prepare the grounds, the students have lined up by classes, raised the flag, sang their prayers and the national anthem. The first day I saw this ritual, tears welled up in my eyes. It is incredibly moving to see the whole school lined up singing and praying. Again, teachers and students alike in the US would likely hold reservations about the workability of such an assembly in our country, but from what I've seen, it sets a wonderful focus for the day and gets everyone together for a common purpose, which is what we are always trying to do in school (the common purpose being learning).

On to the cultural program: The students showed up at school at 8am to prepare the grounds more (we did it outside, despite the cold and cloudy weather). The guests arrived until 9am (including the Chief Guest, the Gup, the head of our Gewog- or assemblage of villages). Also in attendance were a Lama and a few monks to conduct a Puja.

The students sang the National Anthem, and then "Happy Birthday" to the King while some Class 6 students offered white scarves to an image of the King set in front of the tent. Then the Puja was conducted for the Principal's new car, and everyone offered money and white scarves. The Principal provided everyone with a series of offerings, including suja (butter tea), a tea with cheese blocks in it, holy water, rice, and many treats (pictured on my lap). After this ceremony, the students performed a welcome dance in honor of the King and then after another dance, we moved the whole celebration inside due to the cold weather (though it isn't much warmer in buildings here- no central heat like in the US). My song was up right away once we were inside, and the students did a wonderful job! I got it all on video (thanks to Chimi, our support staff), but I doubt I'll be able to upload it until I get to a faster internet connection or just have the patience to wait an hour. After the performances, the Gup sang a song and then the Non-Formal Education students (adults) performed a traditional dance and song. It was lovely! After all of this, we were provided lunch by the Principal, which was absolutely delicious (rice, ema datse, meat dishes, dal...).

While everyone was leaving, Chimi told me that there was going to be an archery match, so I asked if I could tag along. He and Principal took me with to the field, about a km long, just above the road from my house (I had no idea!). Incredible. I have no idea how they even get the arrow down to the other end, much less ever hit the target. I also have no clue how they don't hit the people who are always walking across the archery field, or the cows for that matter. Once an archer is done with his turn, they begin walking to the other end (the target switches from one end to the other after each archer has shot 2x), and people are still shooting! Quite an experience to have arrows whizzing over your head as you walk down the long field! The rules, though I am still learning them, are that there are two teams and the first team to get 11 points wins. However, you shoot in pairs of opposing teams, and if you both hit the target, I think that point is cancelled... something like that. They use these high-tech bows too, which was also incredible to see- I have only seen them used for hunting in the US!

Looking forward to hiking a little today and more archery, since it is Losar. Even if you're not in Bhutan, take time to celebrate new beginnings with me (they are always happening- Al and Krista, my cousins, had a new baby!).