Till My Body Change into Ashes...

On Teachers' Day, we get cards from the kids. They write messages in them. I feel compelled to share this is one from a year 10 (that's year 11 back home). I've copied it without any edits whatsoever. Teachers of the UK... can you believe what you are reading?


Dear Sir


First of all, wish you very happy teachers day to you...


You are a candle who burn itself and give out light to other. And you are a master key to open the door to success. A true teacher is the greatest blessing in ones life. Teacher you desolve all the problems and turn the world into the heaven to live.


Thanking you teacher for your priceless knowledge, for your precious wisdom, for your kindness and everything you did for me.


So my load you are my best teacher and you will be my best teacher only till my body change into ashes.


Thanking you...

A Big Round of General Thanks...

On this somewhat momentus occasion of it being a Wednesday and all being well in the world, it's time to deliver some well-overdue thanks to those folk who have gone out of their way to help me on this grand adventure of volunteerism in Bhutan. It's amazing what a few emails and some generosity can make happen:

Bhutan Canada Foundation. They recently confirmed the success of a grant application for me to get a music department up and running. Soon we'll have guitars, drums, keyboards, and I'll have yet another responsibility and even more work to do. Nice one Dave.

Royal Society of Chemistry. Joanne put a parcel in the post but it hasn't yet found its way. It could be in Belgium. Or Frankfurt. Or Bangkok. Being put on a plane, taken off a plane, put on a plane, taken off a plane... happened 4 times to the first package my Mother sent. Keep your eyes peeled for blog entries from my humble self on the RSCs Elementary Articles blog: http://my.rsc.org/blogs/85).****

Institute of Physics. Dan sent me some amazing interactive posters that you can only see when you heat them up by rubbing, ones that glow in the dark, and ones that react to UV light. Kids loved them. He also sent me 10 packs of 20 cartoon cards showing experiments that can be done without much equipment. These gave much-needed momentum in the early stages of the Science Fair and gave the kids more independence. Brilliant.

STEM. Andrew and Leanne sent me a million posters and a resource pack on teaching climate change and global warming (haven't had a chance to dig into these yet), along with some physics magazines to contribute to the fledgeling library and some stickers that the kids are scrambling over each to get their hands on.

BetterEquipped Education Supplies Ltd. Jim threw in some extra freebies into a package of equipment I ordered from him. I got a class set of Vernier Calipers, a few Leslie Cubes (I had no idea what these were when I first heard of them), some extra lenses and some other assorted bits and bobs. Great stuff.

Nicola. Responded to my Call to Well-Levered Arms in the West by sending us all kinds of things: loads of pen-drives; stationary and even some sweets for the kids. The kids ate the sweets. They did. Not me. 

Marcella. For the most delicious soap. I was washing and eating at the same time until it ran out. Probably not the healthiest of pursuits but great fun. 

Deborah. For the most random collection of odd things like a tennis ball, a dog's backside to hang coats on (with nail in a subsequent parcel) and a precious supply of Green & Blacks drinking chocolate. And one of those little plastic boxes with all the little nails and rails for hanging stuff up with. Genius.

My Mother and Father. They had a hand in sorting most of the above (dog's backside excluded), emailing on my behalf, liaising with all the organisations, posting materials and generally doing far more than expected to support the work I'm doing out here.


So thanks, everyone, for being so helpful. And remember, it's these fellah down here that are benefiting from your kind generosity.


As you can see... they're quite happy (waiting to come into the science exhibition)

A Song - Beneath the Branches

I suppose it's about time I added some songs to this blog as I have a tendency to write them in a hobbyish sort of way I've written 4 or 5 since I landed here. This is the only one that has successfully made it through the crowded and ever-narrowing interpipes... It's called Beneath the Branches and it's a wee ditty about autumnal country-walking, flights of fancy, and moments enjoyed too much for the chances therein to be taken...

Beneath the Branches

The foggy days have come,

the light is gray, the Earth is dun,

the mud beneath our feet is wet and brown.

When we pass by your favourite tree, you bend down upon a knee,

you take a piece of dirt in your hand and you press it to your cheek.

We walk on silently, 

beneath the branches, under leaves.

And I wonder if deep down you're feeling lonely.

I can't resist the thought that everything that you ever brought was meant for me, 

that I'm your one and only.

And I don't know if I will ever feel this alive when the day is gone and you're not by my side.

I'd paint you there if I could hold a brush and use it,

I'd sketch you into my life like a loving man.

If I could write a song that was worthy of your music 

or just take you by the hand... I'd be a better man.

And I don't know if I will ever feel this alive when the day is gone and you're not by my side.

Monsoon Football!!!! Bonkers !!!!!

Today I played the most bonkers game of football I've ever played. We travelled in lush sunlight, the forest verdant and pulsing, abuzz with life, cars in convoy carrying the hopes and dreams of the team to Gedu for the much anticipated rematch against the staff of Gedu School, the nearest school to ours, our sporting nemesis after our recent 5-3 defeat. 

Our team had been depleted on that occasion by injuries and absences. This time we were prepared and we were confident. Then the monsoon arrived, and you could tell straight away that it meant business, resplendent as it was with lightening and thunder and more rain than you can imagine. 

The football pitch was below the level of all other land. I can't imagine why! Rivers of water flowed down steps and turned the pitch into a lake. This game would never go ahead in Bristol. The Down's League administrators would post a 'match abandoned' at the last minute and we'd hang our boots up and eat a hearty breakfast and read the papers instead. 

Not here... 

Game on...

Before the Match...

The Game Commences...

Entering a River, about to be tackled... by the river...

Clapping the team on... Come on... We can do this!!!

The result... 6-6. A fair result? Absolutely not. Bad refereeing. We took the moral victory and celebrated accordingly. Hooray!

By far the most bonkers game I ever played. Much sloppy fun had by all, and the highlight... my first ever proper free kick goal. I'd like to say I bent it like Beckham into the top corner, but to be honest, the keeper should probably have saved it, but it went over the wall, dipped, curled a little and went in. Good job... I missed a sitter 5 minutes before! 

The Science Fair Comes to Town...

May 2^nd was a triple whammy celebration of education in Bhutan. 

1. 'Sherig Century' – a 100 years of western style education. 
2. Teacher's Day - students celebrate teachers and give them cards. 
3. The Birthday of the Third Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan - the King responsible for initiating the big drive forward in modernising Bhutanese education. 

Our school was chosen to be host the celebrations for district. This meant the eminent Dasho Dzongda would be coming, along with the District Education Officer, various assistants and Principles from 9 other schools. This was a big deal. My contribution... to take a dusty, dirty, drab and empty lab and turn it into a science fair. Not an easy feat.  

When I first saw these labs, I recognised not only one of my purposes here, but part of my legacy too. From a dead start, come what may, this science department will be left with functional laboratories, a decent range of resources, a full set of unit tests and schemes of work to boot. Everything is in process, but the Sherig Century gave me the impetus and the opportunity to galvanise the students into sorting out the first laboratory! 9pm nights for a week and two weekends later... here's the result:

The Night Before... Ready to Go

I've lost the 'before' photograph but will take another of the other labs to compare. Boy did we do well! In the end we had too many exhibits and it was a bit cramped, but I couldn't stymie enterprise or momentum. 

The Crowd Gathers!

Students were asked to provide a cover sheet for their exhibits with a catchy title, an attractive image and a question – the aim of the event was to make people think, not to do show and tell; scaffolded conversations are always preferable to lectures for learning. The kids had to provide scientific explanations too, either on the reverse or as a booklet if there was too much. One kid did a booklet, within which every answer to every question from the year 9 magnetism topic (he's year 8) was contained. He kept coming up to me with urgent 'Sir, Sir's to get help with new questions while I was deep in the mire of sorting out who's light bulb belonged to who. We did have a small problem with 'evaporating tools', as one boy put it. I'm still down 3 screwdrivers.

Around the room I scattered questions given to me by students on my request, questions about anything out there in the natural world. Besides the classics that always come out (why is the sky blue?), some of them surprised and were brilliant:

'If light travels in a straight line, 
why does lightening come down in a zig-zag?'

'Why is nature mostly green instead of blue or red?'

'Why is space dark when there are stars to brighten it?'

I've tried to impress upon them that this is where science begins - with these questions. When we seek answers through hypotheses and experiments, we become scientists. Simple as that! Hanging from the rafters were questions that scientists at the forefronts of their fields are still trying to answer.

We had 6 tables: 

Force, Magnetism, Light, Models, The Body and Random Magics. 


Exhibits included lung capacity and reaction time competitions, cable cars, theft detectors on model houses, reappearing coin tricks, the brilliant balancing of fork and spoon on glass trick, soap-powered boats, friction books, secret message writing using onion juice. Once the kids got going, their enthusiasm grew, and with such limited resources, they amazed me with their initiative and their handy skills.

A Few Tables Close Up... (posters visible - exhibits not! Whoops!)

But no matter how many times I told them to write their explanations in rough for me to check, they kept coming up with beautiful works of art riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes. The onion-scribble girls (not the most flattering term) had to redo theirs 4 times! Ayeesh. There was much for me to do because I was intent on making this work well. My autocratic dictator alter ego arose from time to time and I was compelled to take matters into my own hands!

The day finally arrived and all were a-buzz with anticipation. I managed to secure the remote control for the IR demo, coerced sufficient water from the unreliable taps and boiled a last minute egg for the Inertia of Motion girls. The dignitaries arrived and we adjourned to the Hall for ceremonies and speeches. A few hours later we were back in the lab and the Dasho's party were fast approaching. I quietened the children and we spent a moment of mindfulness to reflect on what we'd done. As we gazed around the  room we knew we'd done good, but it didn't do much to quell the nerves as the Dasho came closer...

A Moment of Mindfulness Before it All Began...

I half expected the party to whistle through in a few minutes and was secretly praying that they wouldn't, but The Dasho had been an enthusiastic physics teacher before he took office, and every time I've met him he's been mindful to reward effort with attention. He visited each and every exhibit, engaged with the students and left them all with questions to extend them. And he had a good laugh. We all did, once the nerves abated. Success! Phew! Handshakes and congratulations all around.

The Dasho Entertains

In the next few weeks, each class will take their turn in visiting the exhibition and they'll all get a chance to measure their lung capacity (whilst learning about Archimedes' Principle) or 'Aim for Happiness' with GNH rockets of Love, Peace or Hope (whilst learning about pressure... I couldn't resist).

A small group assisted me in clearing up the room the next day. As I was reaffixing some of the poster holders, I noticed a boy moving around the room with a pen and paper noting things down... he was writing down all the questions that I'd stuck to the desks. 

Job. Done, I thought. (for the time being)

Relaxing With Ugyen as It All Winds Down

Some Thanks... a dedicated entry is on its way, but this couldn't have happened without the kind generosity of Institute of Physics for sending interactive posters (heat operated, glow in the dark and UV) and sets of cartoon cards for various DIY experiments along with other resources, Chepstow School for raising funds in a charity concert that I have used to equip the lab (letters of thanks on the way!) and Better Equipped Educational Supplies Ltd, Nantwich, Cheshire from whom I made the purchase and were kind enough to throw some freebies into the order. Also my Ma and Pa for going out of their way to track down help and for being a postal sorting office, and to my Mum's colleague Nicola for her generosity! I know that STEM are sending more resources, as are the Royal Society for Chemistry. When all the guests have arrived I'll celebrate with a blog party!

Thank you one and all!