Fundraising for the school I teach in eastern Bhutan

Since I’m returning to Bhutan for a second year, I decided that I would help my school, Pemagatshel Middle Secondary School, raise funds to buy teaching and learning materials.  Thus, this post will be about my wish list for the school.  

• Dictionaries for each student in my English class. There are just not sufficient dictionaries to go around for the students! A dictionary is usually shared among 5-6 students in each class. While each class was supposed to get dictionaries, only one of my class V English students received them. So 5 dictionaries given to one class were essentially shared between the two classes throughout the year.

Class V students posing in front of their classroom 



• Stationary and art supplies. Group work entailing any form of creative displays of presentation is always a highlight for the students and is frequently incorporated into my lessons. However, access to them is limited. Imagine the excitement among the students when I brought markers to class one day!

Showing off their work!

Poem recitation during morning assembly

• Cameras. I volunteered to be the Photography Club teacher-in-charge without realizing that the school does not provide cameras for the students to take pictures with. My solutions were to use my ONE compact digital camera and to borrow from my colleagues who have cameras. This was a challenge because I was not always able to borrow cameras and well, there were only so many cameras for so many students to practise taking photos with. 

• High quality reading and picture books as well as educational magazines (e.g. TIME & National Geographic for kids).  While young adult fiction books are readily available in the school, many students are not exposed to educational magazines or other genres of books.  I hope to develop the students' interest in reading as well as to increase the quality of reading materials in the school. 

• Visual Aids – 1 projector, 5 electric light microscopes, models of the human biological systems, Science posters.  Unlike the schools in Singapore in which each classroom has a projector, there is only one projector for the entire school to be shared among the teachers.  Students sit in the classrooms all day long staring at their textbooks and the blackboard (yes, they still use blackboards).  Furthermore, conducting biology experiments which are part of the syllabus are not always possible because the school lacks basic laboratory equipment such as functioning electric light microscopes.  Likewise, it would be wonderful to enhance the students’ interest in learning about the human body systems through the use of 3-D models and posters. 

Class IX students presenting their project

How can you help?  

If you would like to contribute, you may do so through paypal or other means.  You can also let me know how you would like to contribute.  Any amount of donation will really help and again, thanks for reading this post!