Dr. Yang Gyeltshen attended an 8-Day Workshop on “Understanding Well-being of All, through GNH Values, organized by the Institute of Well-being, Chime Thangkha, Tsheluna, from February 5-12, 2017. The participants were two educated youth farmers each, from eight selected villages across the country, led by their respective Gup and the Gewog Administrative Officer. The primary purpose of the workshop was to unleash the power of knowing for Continuing Happiness and Prosperity,by empowering the Local Government Officials to understand development holistically. The ultimate goal of the workshop was the following:
1) GNH inspired Villages characterized by right understanding and right feeling in each individual, prosperity in every family, fearlessness in the society, and co-existence in nature and existence.
2) Fueled by some youth with a real understanding of GNH values, who choose farming, as a way of life.
3) For whom, Farming is their primary occupation, with Eco- tourism, Eco-friendly construction of houses, Bhutanese art and craft and other value added agro business, as processing of food, as their secondary occupation.
4) Who live an engaging life contributing to the social, cultural and political ambiance of the Village, expressing their talents and creativity and their full humanity as a member of the Village community.
Overall, the purpose of this workshop is similar to what the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative envisions and does, which is to help develop rural villages into vibrant communities, guided by GNH Values and principles. As such, human resource and idea sharing between concern organizations through such workshops will always be valuable.
