Nima Dorji

April 30, 2012Posted inYouth34 Comments
One of the Youth Development Fund's most active programs is its young volunteers in action, better known as Y-VIA. The volunteers are typically young students still going to high school. Last week, in Changjiji, Y-VIA put on a delightful show to launch UNICEF's state of the world's children report. They sang, danced, acted and joked for their President, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck, and other guests from the civil service, education system, international organizations, and the local community. But the Y-VIA volunteers also used the occasion to launch their own report, based on three case…

“Khandu-Om” is right

February 20, 2012Posted inYouth15 Comments
“Youth Unemployment – A serious concern for Bhutan?” That’s what BBS asked yesterday, on People’s Voice, a popular Sunday show. The debate was timely, given that thousands of students are now entering the workforce. But public opinion on this important topic was overwhelmingly one-sided: 733 of the people who took part in the vote said that youth unemployment is a serious concern; only 87 said that it isn’t. My blog post earlier this month, when the Class 12 results were announced, drew similar responses. But one of them, by a “Khandu-Om”, put the blame squarely on me. Here’s what…

Unchained fun

January 14, 2012Posted inYouth4 Comments
While jogging today, in Pamtsho, I met Ugyen Penjore, aged 9, "going-to" class 4, Rinchen Kuenphen School, having a wonderful time with his friends on this bike, lent to him by another friend, Kinley Tenzin. Check out the tires on that bike Check out the seat Check out that smile!    

“Tick tock KABOOM”

November 30, 2011Posted inYouth19 Comments

Our hope

Youth crime is a growing problem in our kingdom. And according to the prime minister, “the answer lies in GNH.”
I’m happy that the prime minister has acknowledged the problem: that youth crime is real and that it is growing.
And I’m happy that he has an answer to that problem: GNH.
A good segment of our youth, especially those living in Thimphu, are in trouble. They are scared. They are anxious. And they are desperate.
So if GNH is the answer, let’s use it.
But if GNH isn’t the answer, let’s admit it, let’s look for solutions that could work, and let’s get cracking.
Reports of youth violence, vandalism, theft, drug abuse, rape, gang fights, prostitution, murder and suicides are on the increase. But what we know from the media may only be the tip of the iceberg. The reality, as Xochitl Rodriguez found out, could actually be worse.
Xochitl spent some time in Changjiji last year. And she blogged about what she saw – the suffering and desperation of our children. I’m reproducing her entire article here for our collective reference, and as a reminder of the magnitude and urgency of the work at hand.

Yes we can!

September 24, 2011Posted inYouth30 Comments
The Eighth Asian Youth Congress concluded in Thimphu last Thursday. The congress, made up of youth leaders from the Asia and Pacific regions, aims to build a global network to fight drug abuse. About 130 youth participants from 14 countries attended this year’s congress. 100 of them were from Bhutan. At the end of the 4-day congress, two participants were jointly awarded the International Youth Award. The winners were Azmeel Mohamed from the Maldives; and our own Yangchen Dolkar. Yangchen is a student at Dr Tobgyel School and, at 14 years, was one of the youngest participants. Still, the…

Tashi Penjore

December 20, 2010Posted inYouth
Thirty two people were cremated today. 18 of them were pilgrims who died in the recent plane crash in Nepal. The rest were from other parts of the country – they were bought to Thimphu when their families learnt that that His Majesty the King was personally supporting the cremations, and that His Holiness the Je Khenpo was presiding over the final rites. Most of us know about the recent tragedy in Nepal. And some of us have heard heart-wrenching stories about the victims and their families. But what about the rest? What about the other 14 who were…

Letter to graduates

October 15, 2010Posted inYouth
“Bhutanese Blogger” left a comment on “Leadership of the Self”, a post targeted at this year’s graduates.  In his comment (don’t ask how I know his gender) – which happens to be a letter he’d posted on his blog last year – he talks about career choices, the need to develop a strong resume, the importance of cultivating useful networks, entrepreneurship and further studies. These are, indeed, some important issues that our graduates should ponder. So I’m reproducing his comment here to allow graduates to access it easily. …………………………………………………………………………………… This was written in 2009. Some figures have changed since…

Jobless in Bhutan

October 14, 2009Posted inEmployment, Youth
The results of the Labour Force Survey, 2009 has me worried: unemployment has jumped to 4%; and more than 80% of them are youth between the ages of 15 and 25. In absolute terms, 13,000 of the 325,700 economically active people are unemployed. And of them, 10,500 are youth. Youth between the ages of 15 and 19 are hit the hardest – 20.1% of them are unemployed. So last week’s job fair was a good idea. It sought to boost employment by bringing employers and jobseekers together. But, our labour minister’s statement at the job fair has me even…

Food for thought

October 7, 2009Posted inPoverty, Youth
I’m still reeling from the announcement in the Annual Health Bulletin that 37% of our children are stunting, that 4.6% of them are wasting, and that 11.1% are underweight. That means that 52.7% of our children are under nourished. In other words, more than half our children do not have enough to eat. Wasting, also called acute malnutrition, causes body fat and tissue to “waste” away, or to degenerate. And it is generally caused by extreme hunger, i.e., famine. So, even as I write this entry, one in every twenty children may be coping with famine. Stunting or chronic…

Be Somebody!

September 26, 2009Posted inEconomy, Youth9 Comments
The National Graduate Orientation Programme is over. And 1,300 graduates have now entered the workforce. I didn’t get to congratulate them. So I’ve decided to write about what I would have talked about had I been given the opportunity to meet them. First, I would have talked about employment. Then I would have talked about the role of the opposition. ……………………………………………………………………………………..........................................................................................………. Be somebody! Sound familiar? Be somebody! Remember this hand signal? Clenched fist, thumb upright? Yes, of course you do. It’s from the career counseling tour in 2002, seven years ago. Yes, seven years ago – I can’t believe…

Graduating students

September 20, 2009Posted inEducation, Youth9 Comments
About 1,300 graduates are currently attending this year’s National Graduate Orientation Programme. And, like last year, the opposition party has not been included in the programme. So today, when I heard that the graduates were hosting a cultural show for the public, I rushed to the Nazhoen Pelri. I’m glad I went. Our graduates are obviously talented. And they put on quite a show. From boedra and rigsar to Bhutanese rock and hip hop, the graduates entertained us with a range of performances. Not bad, considering that they’ve been together for barely ten days. The chief counselor, Namgyal Dorji,…

Returning graduates

September 8, 2009Posted inEconomy, Employment, Youth8 Comments
Since the start of planned modern development in our country, one of our biggest constraints to progress has been the consistent shortage of human resources. We simply did not have enough skilled and qualified people required to initiate and sustain development. So when our students studying in India and beyond returned home after they graduated, we welcomed them back eagerly. And we were proud of the fact that they – almost every single one of them – chose to return home instead of working abroad. Not any more. Recently, 100 graduates completed a month-long training at Infosys. 37 of…

A big problem

July 31, 2009Posted inHealth, Youth
We have a problem. In our last poll, 94% of you claimed to either know or think that drug abuse is already a problem in Bhutan. On the other hand, only 5% of you said that drug abuse is not a problem in our country. 1% admitted that they don’t have a clue. I suspected that substance abuse was growing, especially among out youth. But, I had no reason to think that it was already a problem. The poll results have forced me to rethink my views – that’s why I kept the poll up for so long. Next…

Unemployment: a big problem?

May 26, 2009Posted inEmployment, Youth
Somehow, during the last few weeks I've bumped into several young unemployed people. All of them complained that they tried hard, but couldn't get jobs. Some of them were continuing to aggressively seek work. But some had given up. I've also bumped into two groups of youth who are themselves employed, but are thinking about starting something that would help other young people get jobs. These two groups are unrelated. They don't know each other. But both groups are so convinced that unemployment is already a major problem that they have decided that they may have to take matters…