The highest peak of the last kingdom of the Himalayas lies at the feet of its most unique music and dance festival of South Asia that is. Two days walk to reach a narrow valley perched at an altitude of 4300m where fifteen Bhutanese families gather to celebrate life and also share their customs, before facing winter. With graceful and measured gestures, led by the melody of simple instruments, we are guided in learning an ancestral choreography. Laughter, amused looks and nodding, a mystical bond seems to unite all of us who come from so different backgrounds. Only a handful of seasoned hikers have reached the Jomolhari music festival this year.
Isolation, lack of roads and electricity; every aspect of daily lives far from the everywhere is directly affected. In particular the education. The school of this valley welcomes the young students during summer only, and the same teacher teaches all subjects. School supplies of all kinds are greatly lacking. I brought as much as possible with me, in order to distribute them fairly during my one week trek. My team counted four members; guide, cook, carrier, groom and several horses. As we approach a pass at 5000m altitude I understand the scale of difficulties that the relief imposes on its inhabitants, and its raw and pristine beauty. A dizzying descent, dusty and rocky, gives way, step by step, into a dense forest that reveals one of four major rivers of the country, and our final destination, Gunitsawa.
To make a person happy in simply offering him/her a simple calculator or even a pencil filled me with joy and humility, but it takes much more to concretely help the country to give future carrier opportunities to younger generations. This is where the READ Global Association takes its sense READ Global implements a system of education in 100 rural villages by building Bhutanese centres accessible to all. They allow people living below the poverty line, to obtain economic opportunities but also education.
Nearly half of the population is illiterate in Bhutan, simple acts like reading the directions on medicines to their children or even dial a phone number to call their families or help are difficult. To date, over 30,000 people have access to one of the eight centres built by READ Global.
My travel partner created a fundraiser to help this organization. We’ve visited a centre in Punakha, and witnessed concrete and essential help they gave to the poor.
Help them by making a donation. The process is quick, simple and secure. Or just talk about our work to friends and relatives. Thank you.
Our fundraising; https://www.classy.org/fundraise?fcid=505969
READ Global website: http://www.readglobal.org/our-work/read-bhutan
“If you light a lamp for someone else, it also brightens your path”
