Service Beyond Words

At first I was a bit worried about my stay in Korea. Everyone seemed unknown and unique. All I can remember is being so nervous and puzzled. I have learnt that home away from home isn't easy at all. Perhaps, it was thoroughly emotional.

But, upon arrival to Park Hotel, day-by-day, things around started to change –became more exciting, more lively and more familiar. I read so many exciting things about Korea long before and happy to experience that same on my own feet. It was possible due to all the APCEIU staff. I was deeply humbled by the kind gesture of you all. I was touched on many occasions. Perhaps, it was honestly a long chapter of life to get such a rare opportunity that was extremely filled with great lessons of learning and indeed a very expensive experience of Korea. The help and support rendered to us was unparalleled. THANK YOU FOR THAT!

Brilliant green vegetation, mountains, cities and cars, lit by the setting sun was not only amazing to watch but also was a colossal experience in Korea –trip to DMZ and Busan was memorable in a thousand different ways. The places were like Heaven on Earth for all humanity. Interestingly all the lessons were greatly linked with nature and every stone has a great history on the back. I have learnt a lot that I can apply it in my everyday life. Perhaps, the miracle of Han River isn't far from my heart.

At times I saw you all exasperated yet I saw you all giving very best, very hard, sweating at times to make us feel happy and comfortable was something very special I have seen around. You all are genius! I left Korea but not all the good memories made around the cities and APCEIU building. The time you all have sacrificed was something very Extraordinary. You all taught us things that can last for eternity. THANK YOU FOR THAT!

You all have taught us from the baby steps of living in Korea –together we learnt to cross the traffic, we walked in the rain making good memories. We ate together in the restaurants, you all taught us to use restroom, talk to your people, shopping, use subways, use chopstick and many more...,

Although I will be leaving Korea in a few days, I will keep supporting your country in international sports. I will carry your flag high up in the air for a world cup football game and that's a promise made in heaven. I will keep supporting your K-POP stars. I will keep supporting the development and progress of your country. And I will keep talking high about your country in terms of advanced technology.  

Sometime, you happen to visit my country, – a very tiny, under-developed, landlocked country, please do let me know. If I am nearby, I can come to offer my Hi and Bye greetings! Let me tell you a few things about my country, we are very simple and ordinary people humbled in our hearts. We do not have expensive and complicated systems like yours. But, we are a very safe and beautiful nation sharing one common goal of life and endurance; we have strong unity and firm family bondage, and respect is deeply cultured in our system. However, I am sorry to tell you that stray dogs are quite common in the street and it may scare you sometime. SORRY FOR THAT!

As the sun begins to set for the last day, the new hope of reaching home begins to whelm the mood like sun rays over the diamond. And…

Finally, before I close my air bus window, before an occasional cloud starts to appear up in the uncertain sky of the land that became my sweet home for 2 months, before sun goes down the horizon, and before I fly to a very far away to the land where I belong, to my Land of Happiness, my warm regards to entire APCEIU family. Thank you very much Jihon LEE, Dahyun LEE, Nahyun Kwon, Jungmin, lecturers, education staff, drivers and others who have actively been involved in the program. Not to forget –a very active and helpful Hotel Manager (Park Hotel), housekeeping (Park Hotel), and UNESCO/KOICA and the other people involved. I will be missing you all and KOREA!

We all are still a friend, friend forever, friend eternal!

Gam Sa Ham ni da! Beyond the Earth and the Sky!

With love from BHUTAN

GCED Online Campus Course is lesson of COMPASSION

The GCED online campus course is a very good platform especially for teachers across the world to learn about global citizenship education in great detail –the world we live in, the education we need, understanding GCED within SDG, and many more are connected as one lesson. 

Through the video lessons, I have learnt many things regarding GCED and its implications. The most important thing I have learnt is how to teach GCED effectively in a classroom setting professionally and more effectively.

Although, it is a wide concept but we live in an interconnected and interdependent world sharing everything directly or indirectly –beyond one's own community.

As a teacher myself, I feel it is time and opportunity to teach and learn about global challenges we are facing today and consequences that we will be reaping in times to come (future). I would educate my students about the very basic values to save our resources for future generations. My lessons would comprise local to national to international values like –what happens in Korea, happens in Bhutan and vice versa. We can never say I belong to one community and the other is none of my business. It is also important to transfer values like there is to human beings, so are the other animals below the water that also need the same thing to survive –they also like peace and justice. 

With globalization everywhere what one does in a small community affects the whole world in great ways. Nevertheless, it is important to think about a sense of belonging to the global community and common humanity rather than a legal status. Lessons like one’s own civic responsibility beyond national borders to the global community can better save our planet for all times. Nevertheless, if we act on time as one nation, we can easily solve all these global issues of climate change, economic trend, trade war, migration, poverty and wealth, sustainable development, and terrorism issues. Thus, imparting lessons on such issues at local level to national then to global level would greatly enhance the understanding of one's own citizenship because it broadens one's participation in the greater circle of society, acting beyond one's immediate community.  

As an education institution, school and teachers play a vital role in disseminating the indispensable role of education in building a culture of peace not only among people of the national community but also across the world. Through the video lessons, I get to know human right education, citizenship education, values education, peace education, and SDG education, etc., which I can also teach to my students and get their feelings on the same topic and build some simple promises to make this world a better place to live forever happily.

As suggested in some of the video lessons, I have come to realize the role of individual citizens, as a teacher, parents and leaders about my role as a community citizen, national citizen and global citizens. Accordingly I must act as a responsible citizen not only to teach but also to learn myself. I also come to know that UNESCO/APCEIU is doing their best in capacity building on the culture of peace not only to Korean people but also to a global community through discriminating information regarding global citizens and their right to live in a more just and peaceful world. At the same time it is necessary for all of us to behave like global citizens and become better human beings in all kinds. Through the video lessons, I was reminded about cultivating inner peace, what it is to live in harmony with the earth, promoting human rights and responsibilities, and dismantling culture of war from the human mind and I strongly feel that all these issues are the sole duty of every citizen despite the race and region we live in.

For now and later I will act as a good and strong bridge between the UNESCO mission of peace with my students and my nation. And I have strong feelings about living the way we want but at the same time protecting nature and the environment like oneness is most important.  

GCED also gives a platform for all of us to realize our own competencies to solve global problems and to realize the rights and obligations to promote a better world and future. As a teacher, I can play a vital role in passing this entire message not only in a formal setting but also in a non-formal setting to colleagues and communities so that my problem becomes everyone's problem.

Rather than just focusing on one classroom and community within the bookish lessons, we must also teach them about one's beliefs and values for social and political decision-making at national and global levels, and the challenges for governance of contrasting and conflicting beliefs and values. Therefore, they would develop their understanding of social justice issues in local, national and global contexts and how these are interconnected. In this way I am sure values and attitudes to care for others and the environment would greatly enhance. These include compassion, empathy, collaboration, dialogue, and active participation from every citizen.

For all humanity despite race and region, we need a peaceful world to live in and clean air to breathe and safe drinking water. Therefore, I have my right to Live, so do you and everyone around. However, everyone has an equal right to protect this world that we live in.

Should there be any lesson, GCED can define all???

Climate Change and the Seeds

As the lady in pure blue introduced her one hour program, many seemed weird and ennui on the topic -SEEDS! Moreover, she started with listing four important elements of life –water, air, soil and sun. She claimed that the fifth important is the "seed". I am very sure many of us have never realized the importance of seed although climate change is a very common topic and issue happening across the world.

However, as she rolled deeper into the contents of her lecture-cum-demonstration, it started to become better and lively. And she could finally grab the attention of the floor. She didn't let anyone sleep nor hang-up with their phones. Looking at the degree of explanation and the presentation, she seemed very passionate about both the issues -"Climate and Seeds". Interestingly, she was quite knowledgeable in  nurturing healthy seeds, which she termed as "Native Seeds".  

But to me, this lady was great and inspiring, meaningful and applicable in everyday lives. We must always remember that every day the food that comes on our table is not only the sheer hard-work of the farmers and the money you pocket but also due to continuity of seeds raring culture. 

As she took deeper, she introduces more on the types of seeds and its growing trends, habits and benefits –sunflower, Soybean, groundnut, cabbage, pop-corn, etc…are on high list that she locally produced for the continuity of life not only at her community level but also to different provinces and countries. She explained the importance of each variety of seeds and living. However, she feels that the climate change is posing a great threat to the very survival of all kinds of seeds and even life below water and life on land. On the other hand, she was a bit skeptical that the agriculture trend is greatly shrinking due to many factors like climate change and youth not taking up farming jobs. However, climate change is everywhere and it's a collective man-made disaster. Despite the population and the size of the country, everyone of us are equally involved and responsible for the cause. Nevertheless, there is always a solution if we respond timely –we must join our hands and work together to educate everyone around on the impact and means to prevent climate change from happening further.

To make the heterogeneous discussion she opened a floor for question-and-answer session – "I took a chance to share my opinion on coriander seed experience. So, I have shared the difference between locally made seed and imported seed that I use to grow in my kitchen garden". 

Groundnut seed

Rat-teeth Corn

Duck-egged Bean

Single-stem Sun Flower

She was of the view that locally produced seeds of any kinds are always better, healthy and lasting although imported gives good yield. 

Let me share my concern!
We need to focus on such good education culture rather than mining our forest and debating on unnecessary vehicle quota and pay commissioning. Is there a need to hype dual vehicle quota system for our elected women parliamentarian, when thousands of farmers don't have good working conditions and tools. We must educate our farmers, youth and anyone timely on good farming habits and its long term benefit. We must develop good culture for everything we undertake now, the time is now when the population is still manageable, we need some doable and applicable policy system for farmers who work day and night under the sun and the rain. They need our continued support and not necessarily a big vehicle quota or pay them for what they work; we need system that encourages them to work more, they need to be protected well. I am quite hopeful that they may not be interested for such gruesome human greed of vehicle quota or Nu.5000/- mobile allowances or Nu. 8000/- fuel allowances for their farming work. Let us invest our Vehicle Quota money system and Pathang fees to develop better education system, better community, better road construction, building of quality government infrastructures, doable facilities that can make our country stable for generations. Honestly, some of our policies are damn useless and boring. Looking at the present scenario and the habits and the attitude and the policy, we are burying ourselves. That's the end of everything! Say No to loanable Hydro Power contract and unmindful developmental activities to bad partners. Let's us invest wisely and make every development doable and lasting. Let us not compromise on the quality of our work, let's not fail to monitor for better assurance in work done –be it government or private work, after all it belongs to us. There is no harm in being slow. Nevertheless, let us do it in our own style but more mindfully.

Government shouldn't feel proud just because they have imported bags of different seeds. Imported seeds are genetically not good for next season. Thus, sustainability is at high risk. Therefore, education and continued support for native seeds raring is must and important. Electric fencing and some machinery aren't enough; it makes not sense in most of the past projects. Perhaps, I find it inappropriate and unsustainable. Therefore, we need something better and reliable. Instead of signing a new contact of 10% Loanable Hydro Power project, we must start to build new agriculture relationship or Memorandum of Understanding on Agriculture Help, Sharing and Expert (MoUAHSE) with better countries in attitude and work ethics. Let us think beyond Japan and India, way –beyond are Korea, Austria, Netherlands, China, USA, etc. They have good and quality work ethics and better farming system. We don't need counterpart poor in manners like Hydro Power Project Partners (HPPP) and Roads Partners (RP). 

Even though, the session was short but it was informative, engaging, encouraging, productive, and lively. I liked the way she had expressed her concern about the seeds and climate change. I finally realize the importance of seeds. The manner was very clear. Thank You!

I am going home rich and let's see the fate for the seeds I am taking home on my soil. She claimed that the seeds she has given to us can easily survive any harsh climatic conditions like drought and flood. It's not like the seeds bought from the international cooperation or vegetable markets. However, she feels sad to see handful of old grandma harvest the seeds and pass it to new generation. At the same time she is worried about the extinction of some of the native seeds and important some plants. Nevertheless, before this disaster occurs, she requested us to educate our people immediately. Please, when you are back to your own country, tell everyone about the seeds and ask your government to pay more attention to native seeds and care farmers. 

"She strongly felt that the owner of the seeds should be the seller and not the international cooperation". 

I strongly feel the need of seed education to be part of our formal curriculum.  

                                                                                                           to be continued...

Eulji