The Second Bhutan Exploration – Day 3
Nabji, Nimshong
March 27, 2024 – the third day of the Bhutan field study. The team surveyed the water source and agricultural irrigation channels in Nabji Chiwog and visited some of the impoverished homes in Nimshong Chiwog to conduct a survey.
The team headed back to Nabji Chiwog, which we had visited the day before.
Government officials from the Bhutan Cabinet, along with the leader (Chokpa) and sub-leader (Mung) of the Gewog, had already arrived in the village. After a warm greeting, the team immediately began the field survey.
Having seen how rough the paths were the previous day, they brought sickles and saws from Korea today. Before formally starting the survey, Venerable Pomnyun picked up some discarded wood by the roadside and crafted a walking stick.
△ 지팡이를 만드는 법륜스님Pomnyun Sunim crafting a walking stick
“The weather is just perfect for a walk.”
Venerable Pomnyun, with his walking stick, began walking briskly. Guided by the leader of the Chiwog, we left the village and entered the mountains. They followed a narrow, slippery irrigation channel, moving forward carefully, sometimes balancing on one foot. Along the way, they saw sections of the channel that had burst open. In some places, stones had collapsed, blocking the channel. Repairs were needed in all of these areas.
△ Irrigation channel in need of repair
There were also cracks in the irrigation channel. Venerable Pomnyun pointed to the cracked areas and spoke to the leader of the Chiwog.
△ JTS team inspecting the irrigation channel
“We need to repair all these areas. If we don’t fix these cracked sections in advance, water will leak, potentially causing landslides, which could lead to bigger issues.”
After walking for another 20 minutes, they arrived at the first water source. Stones had collapsed, blocking the source, and there was an additional risk of rocks falling, so repairs seemed necessary.
“We need to remove rocks that are at risk of collapsing, and clear the stones that have fallen into the stream to open up the waterway. It would also be good to build a new embankment and install a sluice gate, a government official said.”
“Yes, we hadn’t thought of preparing in advance. We would have just repaired the collapsed parts now and then fixed them again if more rocks fell. We learned this approach from you.”
They walked out of the slippery channel and headed to the next water source.
△ JTS team walking toward the second water source
After climbing and descending steep paths and cutting through the jungle for another 50 minutes, we finally reached the second water source.
△ JTS team exploring the second water source
△ The second water source surveyed
“We need to create an additional irrigation channel here to connect the water source to the main channel, and it would be good to install a sluice gate in the middle to control the water flow”
As they walked along the mountain path, they were able to check the channel that had been connected from the third water source.
△ Irrigation channel observed on the way to the third water source
They didn’t have enough time to reach the third water source, so they only checked the irrigation channel and then turned back along the same path.
“Since we made an appointment with the people of Kolpu Chiwog, we should at least visit the Kolpu Chiwog water source as well.”
After an hour of hiking, they finally arrived at the fourth water source, which is used by Kolpu Chiwog.
△ The fourth water source used by Kolpu Chiwog
This water source uses three irrigation channels connected to it, but there are times when water is insufficient. As a result, water is brought from another source located a bit farther away, requiring the connection of two additional channels. We needed ideas on how to connect the channels effectively. Venerable Pomnyun came up with the simplest solution and suggested it.
△ JTS team researching solutions
“‘We should create a lower irrigation channel that naturally guides the water towards it during the dry season, and during the rainy season, the water should overflow and flow in other directions. It would also be necessary to install a sluice gate.”
When the Bhutanese officials had difficulty understanding, Venerable Pomnyun drew diagrams in his notebook to explain how to improve the water source and irrigation channels.
△ JTS team discussing while drawing diagrams
“‘Yes, now I understand.”
After inspecting all the water sources, they headed to the fields where the people of Nabji Chiwog cultivate rice. On the way, they passed several plots of land that were not being used for farming and were left empty.
△ JTS team looking at the empty plots of land
“Why aren’t they farming that land?”
“The land was purchased by outsiders, so it’s not being cultivated.”
“Does the Bhutanese government have any policies to prevent land from being left unused?”
“There is a policy that requires landowners to pay double the land tax if they leave the land uncultivated.”
As they were almost back in the village, they noticed that there were no concrete irrigation channels. Venerable Pomnyun asked about the reason. The leader of the Chiwog answered.
“Due to budget constraints, we couldn’t build a channel at the entrance of the village.”
After leaving the temple, Venerable Pomnyun asked the leader of Nabji Chiwog for a favor.
“The most urgent issue is the irrigation channel connected to the rice fields. Please show me the channel first.”
“Yes.”
They examined how the irrigation channel was connected to the rice fields.
△ JTS team inspecting the irrigation channel connected to the rice fields
“If the Chokpa hadn’t pointed it out, they might not have realized it was an irrigation channel—it looked more like a path between the rice fields. There were some stones placed here and there, but it appeared to be just a path, not a proper irrigation channel.
‘We need to build a proper irrigation channel, and in the future, if we want to use machinery like a tiller, the path and channel overlap. The owners of the rice fields next to the channel will need to give up a little of their land to widen the path. Will that be okay?”
Even if water flows through, it seems like there would be a lot of erosion.
△ JTS team discussing the irrigation channel
“‘Even if water flows, there’s too much erosion. This isn’t an irrigation channel; it’s just a path. It’s necessary to build a proper agricultural irrigation channel with concrete. It’s not a difficult project, so if JTS provides the materials, it would be good if the residents could carry out the construction. This way, we could solve the water shortage problems in both Kolpu Chiwog and Nabji Chiwog at the same time.’”
△ Agricultural irrigation channel surveyed
△ View of Nimshong Chiwog
They headed toward Nimshong Chiwog. In this village, we carefully reviewed the poorest homes. During the field study in February, there were eight families that had no homes and requested that houses be built for them. The Bhutanese government’s own survey also identified these eight families as the poorest. Upon arriving in the village, they visited all eight families. They started from the highest point of the Chiwog and visited each house one by one as they descended.
△ The first visited impoverished household in Nimshong Chiwog
Venerable Pomnyun carefully assessed the level of support needed for each household. They had thought that these families were homeless, but it turned out they were living in houses made of wood. In Bhutan, houses built with wood are considered temporary homes, unlike those made of stone and earth. That’s why they had been referred to as homeless.
The first house they visited was in good condition, except for the fact that the walls were made of wood.
△ JTS team visiting an impoverished household
△ Interior of the first visited house
They then moved on to the second house. Venerable Pomnyun asked the woman several questions.
△ Exterior of the second visited house
△ Interior of the second visited house
“‘How many people are in your family?”
“There are six of us.”
“What does your husband do?”
“He has heart problems and went to India for treatment.”
They carefully inspected the kitchen, master bedroom, living room, and other areas before leaving the house. Next, they headed to the third house. Inside, there was a stove, and the walls were covered in soot.
△ View of the third visited house
△ Interior of the third visited house
While there didn’t seem to be anything particularly dire, the issue was that the house was an illegal structure, not built on the owner’s own land. It was clear that building a new house on their own land was necessary.
While moving on, they came across the school in Nimshong village. They visited the classroom where lessons were taking place and had a conversation with the children.
△ School in Nimshong village
Venerable Pomnyun wrote a math problem on the blackboard and asked the children to solve it. However, the children were unable to solve the problem correctly. He then showed them how to calculate the solution.
△ Child solving the math problem given by Venerable Pomnyun
Venerable Pomnyun asked several questions to children.
△ Venerable Pomnyun talking with the children
“What do you need the most?’
The children hesitated and didn’t respond right away. Then, the principal encouraged them to answer in Bhutanese, and only then did the children begin to respond.
“We need laptops and smart TVs.”
The principal also emphasized the need for laptops and smart TVs.
“Since much of the educational content has become digitized after COVID, laptops and smart TVs are absolutely necessary.”
After talking with the principal, they toured the computer room. The grade with the highest number of students had 12, but there were only 6 laptops in the room. The principal mentioned that if 6 more laptops were provided, each student could have their own.
△ JTS team touring the school
The school had its own library and even a projector. On the outer wall of the classroom, there was a diagram depicting the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index.
△ Diagram of the Gross National Happiness index displayed on the classroom wall
They left the school and headed to the health center. At the health center, the villagers had prepared hand-spun milk and naturally dyed boiled eggs as a gesture of hospitality for Venerable Pomnyun. As the JTS team sat down, the villagers served each a cup of warm tea.
△ Venerable Pomnyun visiting the health center
After a short break, they left the health center and continued with their visits to the households.
△ JTS team heading to the fourth house
They then headed to the fourth house, which was the one Venerable Pomnyun had visited during the field study in February. This house was in such poor condition that it needed to be rebuilt entirely.
△ Exterior of the fourth visited house
They then headed to the fifth house, where a man in his 70s was living alone. After inspecting the interior of the house, they moved on to the next one.
△ Exterior of the fifth visited house
Upon arriving at the sixth house, they inspected both the interior and exterior. Aside from the low eaves, the house had plenty of wood, and with some remodeling, it seemed like it could be improved. The homeowner mentioned that although there was an electrical box nearby, they couldn’t afford the wires to connect electricity. They were charging their phone with two small solar panels the size of a palm.
△ Exterior of the sixth visited house
△ Using solar panels for electricity on the sixth house
Next, they visited the seventh house. The house itself was in decent condition, but since it was built on government-owned land, it seemed more important to resolve the land ownership issue rather than building a new house.
△ View of the eighth visited house
Finally, they headed to the eighth house. The construction of the house had been halted. When they asked about the situation, the woman replied:
“My husband was building the house when he fell ill, so now he is living at my younger sister’s house. I am living here alone with my mother and four children.”
As the rainy season was approaching, there was a lot of concern about how they would manage to live in the unfinished house.
△ People living in the eighth house
After checking all eight households, it turned out that six of them were requesting to have their houses, built with wood, rebuilt with stone and clay; one was asking for help with land issues; and one had stopped construction and was asking for the house to be completed.
An elderly man also complained about not receiving any support despite his poverty. Venerable Pomnyun asked Chokpa about this.
“As far as I remember, during the last visit, this man said that he has a child living next to him, so there’s no need to build a new house, but is it necessary to build a new house? In this case, if we consider it as one household, there’s no need to build a house, but if we consider it as two households, then there’s the issue of needing to build a new house.”
“I’ll check again.”
Venerable Pomnyun told the man that he would discuss the matter again with the public officials.
△ JTS team conducting additional visits to the houses around the temple
After visiting all eight households, it was 5 PM. Finally, they looked at a few more houses around the temple that seemed to need remodeling.
“Please show me two more houses that fall into the bottom 10 percent.”
△ View of the house that was additionally surveyed
△ Interior of the house that was additionally surveyed
After looking at two more houses, today’s survey was concluded. They carefully examined the poorest houses, but they couldn’t decide which house to choose as a sample for remodeling. They decided to visit Langdelbi Chiwok tomorrow and then make a decision on which house to use as a sample.
△ JTS team and Bhutan government officials having a discussion after completing the survey
Today, they spent the day visiting the water source in the morning and then visiting each house in the afternoon. Venerable Pomnyun said as he got into the car,
“Oh, I’m really tired.”
While riding in the car on the way back, he discussed with the staff what points to focus on during the evening meeting.
When they arrived at their accommodations, the sun had already set, and it was 6:40 PM. Just like yesterday, they immediately had a meeting with the Bhutanese government officials.
First, Venerable Pomnyun gave a detailed explanation of his impressions from today’s survey and the plans for the future.
△ JTS team having a meeting with Bhutanese government officials
“Today, we examined the eight poorest houses. In terms of not being made of stone and earth, they fall under the category of temporary housing. However, except for three houses, the rest are in relatively good condition. If the issue is that they are made of wood, then that would be a problem. However, if the houses need to be made of stone and earth, it seems that all of them would need to be rebuilt.”
“However, the sixth house only needs the electricity to be connected; it doesn’t seem to require rebuilding. That house also has a lot of wood, so a little bit of improvement should be enough. At the end, as we were leaving the village, I saw a shack. It seemed necessary to confirm whether it’s a temporary house for raising cattle or a house for people to live in.”
△ Bhutanese government officials writing down the opinions of the JTS team
Venerable Pomnyun shared an idea about how to secure water for firefighting in Kolpu Chiwok.
“We could install a water tank at the highest point in the village, connect a large pipe running downward, and add connection points along the way so that when a fire breaks out, a long hose can be attached and used as firefighting water.”
When the practitioners couldn’t understand, Venerable Pomnyun drew a diagram in his notebook to explain it more clearly.
△ Venerable Pomnyun explaining by drawing a diagram in his notebook
“Unlike other villages where houses are spaced apart, the houses in Kolpu Chiwok are densely packed, which seems to increase the risk of fire. By installing a water tank at the top, we could secure firefighting water. We could set up two water tanks: one connected to each household for daily drinking water use, and another dedicated solely for firefighting.”
“The government already has a disaster management system in place, so we’ll look into it and work on establishing a plan based on your suggestion.”
△ Bhutanese government officials sharing their views.
After listening to Venerable Pomnyun’s insight, the Bhutanese government officials each shared their opinions. The main issue was deciding which house to select as a sample for remodeling. As the discussion continued, Venerable Pomnyun shared his thoughts one last time.
△ The JTS team and Bhutanese government officials engaged in discussion
“We still haven’t made a final decision on which house to repair as a sample because we haven’t found a suitable one yet. Perhaps we should consider inspecting Rangdelbi Chiwok tomorrow and selecting a sample there.
What JTS aims to achieve with this trip is to create a model for how to remodel the interiors of the bottom 10 percent of households. Within this year, we hope to conduct a pilot project to remodel an entire Chiwok. And as part of our five-year plan, we intend to remodel all the houses within a Dzongkhag.”
After an hour of discussion, Venerable Pomnyun asked a 22-year-old new public official who was accompanying them for her thoughts.
“How do you feel about visiting the villages with us?”
△ A Bhutanese government official sharing her thoughts
“It was a new experience for me. I learned for the first time how the villagers earn money and make a living. When I return to the office, I’ll share my experience and encourage everyone to work hard.” (laughs)
Venerable Pomnyun kindly explained what to keep in mind when supporting those in need.
△ Venerable Pomnyun laughing while conversing
“When this project starts, we will need to recruit many young people from Bhutan as volunteers. It would be great if the young people of Bhutan didn’t keep trying to go to Australia to make money, but instead joined this project.”
The mindset when helping those in need
“When you become a government official in the future, you will need to work hard to solve the problems of the residents. However, it’s important to remember that you cannot solve all of their difficulties. You must always maintain balance between the residents. If you help one family because they are in need, others may feel dissatisfied. Similarly, if you build a new house for someone who is homeless and make it better than the houses of those who already own one, the existing homeowners will feel unhappy. Therefore, it’s not necessarily a good thing to build the best house. It is more important to consider the balance of the entire village. When you build a house for someone in poverty, it should be one that the entire village can celebrate. You should not build a house that makes the people who already have homes feel worse, thinking ‘It would have been better if we didn’t have a house at all.’ If you’re not careful, it might lead to the idea that ‘If I don’t have a house, the government will build me a new one.”
“First, you must have a genuine heart to help those in need. Second, even when helping those in need, you must always look at the bigger picture and maintain balance. Third, you must always consider the effects of your actions. When making an investment, you should think about how many people will benefit from it. It is not the right approach to provide too many benefits to just one or two people. Fourth, when you want to help but don’t have the resources to do so, you should not feel too guilty. This is because we cannot do everything. However, you must always do your best.
If you focus too much on balance, you may lose the warm heart to help those in need. Conversely, if you focus too much on warmth, you may lose sight of maintaining balance. It’s easier said than done, and in reality, it is very difficult. You must find balance in between these two.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
△ The JTS team and Bhutanese government officials concluding the meeting
After the meeting, it was almost 8 PM. It had been another long and exhausting day. Linchen, a government official, smiled and said,
“It was a very long day.”
The new public official smiled and said in Korean,
“Thank you.”
- This text was written and edited based on an article provided by the Monk’s Day Team
