Family Volunteering in Bhutan

Tips for Long-Term Volunteers to Get to Know their Host Culture

Article & Photo by Penny Siefker

The author and her family joined students on a trip to Dochela Pass, where the stupas were whitewashed. The trip was part of the winter program of the Tarayana Foundation, a charity co-founded by a Queen of Bhutan and run by its trustee board of citizens.

Thinking that 58 was not too old to live an adventure, my husband moved to the cloud kingdom of Bhutan for four months in the spring. This country, famous for its past isolation, beguiles one with its stunning natural beauty. During our stay there we became accustomed to watching the sun rise over snowcapped mountains. On any given day we saw men hand painting traditional patterns and emblems on the exterior of new buildings and monks circling the Memorial Chorten close to our apartment. Children shouted “hi” when we passed and practiced their beginning English phrases with us. Stopping to talk with these young Bhutanese wearing small versions of their national dress, never failed to produce smiles on their faces and ours.

The natural beauty of the country is renowned, and justly so. More than 80 percent of the land is protected forest. Animals, birds and plants that are not found anywhere else on the globe live there. Streams of dragon shaped clouds drift into the valleys when evening comes.

Our visas gave us official status because we were all members of Health Volunteers Overseas. My husband worked at the Jigme Dorgi Wanchuck National Referral Hospital. I volunteered to teach English and read stories at the library. Our young adult children were able to join us and they found interesting ways of meeting people. My daughter worked alongside staff at the youth radio station and my son spent time at a veterinary clinic. We all, of course, were unpaid; however, we did receive free housing in an apartment close to the hospital. We paid our own transportation costs and living expenses. And we used our status to travel throughout the country.

The volunteer designation is most important in this country. Other visitors, with the exception of citizens of the SAARC countries, must register as tourists and are required to spend a minimum of $200 a day per person. Their time in Bhutan must be as part of a tour group so it is very rare to see others like us on the streets of Thimphu, where we lived. There were a number Americans as well as a few Canadians, Scandinavians, and Japanese citizens living there under the volunteer designation at the same time we were. In addition to health care volunteers, a few people worked with environmental organizations. One person was a volunteer consultant at the youth radio station and another was the golf pro at the National Golf Course. The support varied but all of us received housing and the same free medical services that the rest of the country’s citizens receive.

We had experiences that cannot be had anywhere else. The country was long closed to the rest of the world and benefited from very enlightened rulers who carefully controlled the amount of outside influence. For example, television was not available until 1999. Now there is cable television, cell phone, and Internet access. The price of the last two was kept to a minimum so that more people can take advantage of these technologies.

We all chose to get involved as much as possible. We wanted to know the country and the people as much as we could during our short time in Bhutan. Some of the insight we gained through our volunteer experience can be replicated in other countries if you are planning short- or long-term volunteer stays.

Penny Siefker was a teenager when the Peace Corps started and she always thought she would be able to live and work outside the United States. In 1992 she and her husband volunteered with Health Volunteers Overseas in Peshawar, Pakistan. They both wanted to do more and have since volunteered twice in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Managua, Nicaragua. Most recently, they volunteered with their kids in Thimphu, Bhutan.