Bhutan, Lunana, A Yak in the Classroomn (ブータン 山の教室）
Today, I watched the movie from Bhutan “Lunana, A Yak in the classroom”
I lived in Bhuan for 4 years during 2004-2008 serving in the United Nations Development Programme. I did visit a various corners of mountainous terrains of Bhutan in a Toyota land-cruiser plus on my foot as most project villages are located at hours of walk from the jeepable roadside. At Lunana village, we have got an important project ““Reducing climate change induced risks and vulnerabilities from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF)”. But, I could never visit Lunana as it was by far remotest area of Bhutan where we need to climb snow-capped mountains and walk more than a week to reach. Today, I finally saw the harsh but beautiful natural landscapes of Lunana and its people. The song and dance they enjoy with the breathtaking nature, green, white and blue, at the background sounds very familiar and my eyes were flooded with water coming out of my heart.
When I listened and learned the meaning of the song that a Yak herding lady sings to devote to all beings and souls around their world selflessly, I was struggling not to disturb others by my sobbing. It was a story of Yak and a Yak herder. Without Yak, the villagers at highland cannot survive. Sometime, they need the meat of a Yak. They gather all Yaks of village and throw a hat. A hat fall on a Yak whose life and body will be sacrificed for the whole villagers. The song was written by a herder whose Yak was sacrificed, and he sings for the soul of Yak who is probably reincarnation of someone and will be reincarnated again in the Himalaya. Therefore, the Yak in the classroom demonstrates a symbiotic relation between the nature and the human-being as well as between the real world and the spiritual world.
I think the most eye-opening parts of the movie are those with a little cute girl, Pema Zam. Her eyes are shining black, curiously-open, and eloquently storytelling. She is a symbol of love, both human and natural. Her pure and fragile heart is just like our beautiful planet in face of the climate change due to the greedy human activities.
The movie gave me an impulse TO ACT.
The village elder says, “a teacher (knowledge) can touch the future”.
Our responsibility as adults and fortunately educated is to let the children touch the future.
And we should “leave no one behind”.
The movie has brought me an idea of a new project for Lunana and Bhutan to create a network of online library that reaches the children in the remotest areas. Probably, we need a hundreds of set comprising solar panels, smart phones or tablets, an internet connection or if otherwise, a CD/memory tips of hundreds of selected books. It is doable at this era of the IT development including developing countries.
Then, I wish to visit Lunana and meet Pema Zam and every children.
Happiness via Ping Pong 