Welcoming the New Year in Bhutan

Hello. It’s the 9th day of the Bhutan survey. Today, Sunim visited Chapdempa and Barpong Chiwog in Zhobkha Gewog, then moved to the JTS Center in Punakha.

On the first day of the new year, Sunim began his day in a remote mountain village in Bhutan. After completing his early morning practice and meditation, he proofread manuscripts and went for a walk in the spacious open area outside the lodging. Hearing the sound of a stream flowing, he followed it down and found a dense grove of bamboo trees thicker than his thighs.

“Wow, look at the size of these bamboo trees.”

While bamboo groves are gradually disappearing in rural Korea, the bamboo in Bhutan still forms lush green forests.

During the walk, Sunim received a video call from Dharma Teacher Bokwang from India.

“Sunim, we’re calling from the Indian community to wish you a Happy New Year.”

“Thank you. I hope everyone stays healthy in the new year. I’m in Bhutan now. Let’s meet again in India during the upcoming pilgrimage.”

Sunim’s bright smile filled the screen.

“Sunim, we’d like to offer our New Year’s greetings.”

Sunim adjusted his kayasa and long robe, then joined his palms together to receive the New Year’s bow from the Indian community.

“I hope you accumulate much merit in the new year as well.”

It was time for the New Year’s ceremony in Korea. Sunim tried to connect online to greet the community, but his pre-recorded Dharma talk had already begun. As the weather outside was quite cold, he went back inside.

After breakfast, Sunim exchanged New Year’s greetings with the group traveling with him. The officials from the Bhutanese central cabinet, including Ishi, Planning Officer Norbu from Zhemgang, drivers, and staff members, also offered their New Year’s greetings to Sunim first.

“We’re welcoming the new year of 2025 in Bhutan. (Laughs) I hope you all have a healthy and happy year ahead. Our tour of Zhemgang is almost coming to an end. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you enjoy the remaining schedule as well.”

Sunim introduced the Korean tradition of New Year’s bows and gave out New Year’s money.

“In Korea, we have a custom of giving New Year’s bows and receiving money in return. Here, let me give you some New Year’s money.”

The Bhutanese group found the Korean New Year’s custom interesting and enjoyed it. Then, the Deputy Governor of Zhemgang, the Tshogpa of Chapdempa, and the villagers at the lodging came one by one to offer New Year’s greetings to Sunim.

After exchanging New Year’s greetings, the tour began at 8:40 AM. The road to Chapdempa Chiwog was like a jungle.

After driving down the mountain road for about 10 minutes, the Chapdempa temple came into view in the distance. Upon arriving at the temple entrance, the villagers welcomed Sunim and his group.

After paying respects at the temple, they sat down with the villagers for a conversation. The Tshogpa first spoke about the current situation in the village.

After listening attentively to the Tshogpa’s account, Sunim greeted the villagers.

“It’s nice to meet you. Have you ever seen a foreign monk before?”

“No, we haven’t.”

“I come from Korea, which is even farther than China. The reason we can meet despite being so far apart is that you are disciples of the Buddha, and I am also a disciple of the Buddha. We are connected as Dharma brothers and sisters. This meeting today is thanks to the blessings of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. The Tshogpa mentioned the difficulties in the village. He said that most villages are on mountain ridges, so they lack water. However, I thought there wouldn’t be water problems here since there’s a lot of land next to the valley, but he said four households are experiencing water shortages. Couldn’t those four households move down to where there’s water?”

“There’s no land available.”

Sunim nodded at the villager’s response and continued the conversation.

“The Tshogpa mentioned that the road to the village is dangerous. When I came here myself, I indeed found the road to be hazardous. However, I also felt grateful to the Bhutanese government, thinking, ‘How did they manage to build a road in such a place?’ They’ve constructed a road to this remote mountain village, brought electricity, and even connected the internet. (Laughs) Of course, I acknowledge that there are many inconveniences. However, I believe we should also be thankful to the Bhutanese government for building roads and providing electricity. I’ve visited many countries around the world, but it’s rare to find a place this deep in the mountains with roads, electricity, telephone, and internet access. While there are inconveniences, I hope you can also recognize the many positive aspects.”

Sunim asked the residents about the difficulties they were facing. The villagers began to speak up one after another.

“There are four households without homes.” “Four households don’t have access to water.”
“The damage from wild animals is severe. They consume 80 percent of our crops.”
“There’s a dangerous sharp curve at the entrance to the village.”
“We don’t have health facilities, so we have to go to Pelphu.”
“Corn is our staple food, and it would be helpful to have a machine to grind it.”

After listening to the residents’ stories, Sunim asked more specific questions about why those without homes still didn’t have them, and how far the water source was from the village that mentioned being far from it.

“For wildlife damage, different fences need to be installed for different animals. You should research that as well. While health facilities are essential, it’s not realistic to build a health center in every small village. You’ll have to wait until the government can provide it.”

An hour had passed since the conversation began. After listening to the concluding remarks from Governor Jemgang, the dialogue ended, and the group departed for Pelphu Chiwog.

The distance from Chabdempa to Pelphu Chiwog was 2km, which could be walked in two hours, but there was no road. Traveling by car, they had to go around for nearly 40km, taking 2 hours and 30 minutes. They arrived at Pelphu Chiwog at 12:40 PM. The villagers stood in a line to welcome Sunim and his group.

They went to Pelphu Elementary School to have a conversation with the residents. Although the village was small, the residents didn’t appear to be very impoverished. Sunim began the conversation first.

“From my perspective, Bhutan is a good country to live in. While the world is in turmoil with wars here and there, Bhutan has no war, right? That alone is a great blessing. In other countries, there are many political civil wars, but Bhutan doesn’t have such problems. I’ve traveled all over the world. There are places where people have to travel dozens of miles for water, and many places without electricity or roads. But in Bhutan, even in these remote mountains, there’s electricity, roads, and even well-equipped schools. You’re all dressed neatly too. (Laughs) Is the food alright as well?”

Sunim conveyed positive words while observing the villagers’ reactions.

“In fact, you are living peacefully and well. But there might still be some shortcomings here and there. These days, as water usage increases, some villages face water shortages. There are houses with no internal partitions, kitchens that aren’t properly equipped, houses where smoke rises from indoor fires, and houses without proper toilets. If these issues are addressed, this place would be perfect to live in. I suppose all these problems I mentioned have already been solved, so there’s nothing left for me to do?”

A villager cautiously answered Sunim’s question.

“No, Sunim. There are still many unresolved issues. While there are no major problems with food and living, housing issues remain. The Tarayana Foundation helped with house construction, but while those with means completed their houses, those lacking resources haven’t been able to build yet. There are six households that have only received the materials and remain incomplete.”

Sunim nodded and asked again.

“So what happened to the materials they received?”

“We received support for metal roofing, but it’s still unused, just as it was.”

Sunim asked the villagers about specific inconveniences to understand the current situation in detail. The villagers said they had no special requests, but when asked about toilets, kitchens, or shelves, they said most houses lacked these facilities.

“Are toilet and kitchen facilities well-equipped?”

“Most houses have toilets, but about one household doesn’t.”

“How about houses with kitchens?”

“Only one household has a proper kitchen.”

“Let’s discuss this again as we start the project. (Laughs) It seems difficult to talk about this suddenly.”

After 40 minutes of conversation, they had lunch together with food prepared by the Barpong villagers. After the meal, Sunim summarized the progress of the tour so far and held a meeting with the Governor to discuss how to proceed with the project.

“Overall, house repairs seem to be the most challenging issue. Since each house has a different situation, it’s difficult to submit project plans in advance. In my opinion, it would be best for field workers and planning officers to conduct on-site surveys, prioritize the necessary support for each house, and then provide post-completion reports. It’s relatively easy to calculate material costs for building new houses, but with house repairs, there’s a high possibility of unexpected additional costs during the process. Please consider whether following administrative procedures would be effective in such situations. The first option is for the field worker to decide on a certain amount based on the support funds, and anything beyond that would be decided by the Governor. The second option is to get post-approval for house repairs. We need to consider a system where decisions can be made on-site immediately if materials run short during construction, and then report afterwards. If we have to write new proposals and wait a month or two for budget approval when materials run short, construction could be halted. Especially when villagers, not workers, gather to work, if there’s a gap period, people will disperse, making it very difficult to gather them again. Trying to avoid this problem, residents tend to request ample budgets. But this risks wasting leftover materials. What would you do with excess gravel or sand? So I think it’s better to introduce a system where even if the project budget is requested insufficiently, additional support can be quickly decided and processed when needed. Please research how to make this possible. If we don’t establish a system for projects to proceed quickly, many delays could occur due to existing administrative procedures.”

Sunim then mentioned manpower as the second issue.

“The second important discussion is about manpower. As projects will be carried out simultaneously in the future, it will be difficult for the Zhemgang Planning Officer to handle alone. Currently, the Planning Officer isn’t dedicated solely to this work but is also handling government duties, right? In my opinion, it’s necessary to request the central government to assign one more planning officer for about three years. When proposals from each village come in all at once, it’s difficult for one planning officer to review them all. If the review is delayed, the approval process by the Governor and the central government will also be delayed. Especially for small-scale projects or projects with small amounts, we need a system that can proceed easily.”

The Governor, having listened to Sunim’s explanation, responded in agreement.

“I agree with what you’ve said, Sunim. You’ve clearly pointed out the issues we need to address.”

After a brief conversation with the Governor, Sunim came out of the school to move to Punakha. Just before getting into the car, a mother rushed over and earnestly pleaded with Sunim.

“Sunim, please look at my child. She’s very sick. Please bless her.”

Sunim examined the child at the mother’s request.

“What’s wrong with her?”

The child held out her palm.

There was no color in her hands, and her fingers were stiff. While the skin on other parts like her face and arms was normal, her hands and feet were lifeless, stiff as if they belonged to a dead person.

“This problem seems to require a hospital visit rather than a blessing.”

“We’ve been to the big hospital in Thimphu, but they said they don’t know the cause. They said she just has to live like this for the rest of her life.”

Sunim, feeling sorry for the situation, asked the staff to record a video.

“Please record a detailed video of this child’s hands and feet condition. When I go back to Korea, I’ll show the video and try to find out more. If we can find the cause of the illness, we might be able to help with treatment, but if even in Korea they can’t find the cause, she’ll have to live with it despite the discomfort. Don’t worry too much.”

Sunim comforted the mother and left Belpong village.

The survey of Zhobkha Gewog concluded today. The Gup of Zhobkha Gewog wanted to offer some hospitality to Sunim before his departure and invited him to his home.

Although Sunim had a long journey ahead, he decided to stop by briefly, considering the effort the leader might have put into preparation. After sharing a cup of tea at the Gup’s house, Sunim bid farewell to the Governor and Deputy Governor.

“It seems that the conversations with the residents went well during our survey over the past few days. I hope the government will join forces based on the discussions we’ve had. I will now move to the Panbang JTS Center to continue the remaining survey schedule.”

“Yes, Sunim. We’ll see you again before you leave Zhemgang.”

Departing from Zhobkha Gewog, Sunim arrived at the Panbang JTS Center at 6:30 PM. He had dinner with the staff and concluded the day. On the first day of 2025, it was another day filled with survey activities in Bhutan, just like yesterday.

Tomorrow, the plan is to survey Digala Chiwog in Bardo Gewog and Singkhar Chiwog in Singkhar Gewog.