Tarayana Foundation is a non-profit organization, wholeheartedly working to uplift and enhance the lives of people in rural communities in Bhutan. The Foundation complements and supplements the efforts of the Royal Government in poverty reduction by espousing the national goal, Bhutan 2020: A Vision for Peace, Prosperity and Happiness.< namespace="" prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xml="true">
Tarayana Foundation was established in 2003 by Her Majesty the Queen, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, as a potential solution to the problems of the disadvantaged that she witnessed first hand during her tours to the remote corners of the nation.
Despite the pro-poor development strategy of the government, small communities in far flung areas are still lagging behind. The Foundation was established to help these communities achieve self sufficiency through small and targeted interventions.
VISION: A happy and poverty free Bhutan
Mission: To help the vulnerable and the disadvantaged help themselves
Motto: Service from the Heart
Core Values: Compassion, Dignity, Integrity
Objectives
- Help the poor rural communities become self reliant and self sufficient through the initiation and establishment of income generating activities.
- Promote artisan skills through the establishment of training centres and facilitation of sale of products.
Enable children from disadvantaged and poor families to pursue education through support grants for basic need of uniforms, shoes, and other necessary expenses. - Provide greater economic security and dignity of life to vulnerable individuals through grant of maintenance allowances.
- Instill the values of volunteerism in the Bhutanese youth.
Introduction
Tarayana club was started in the college during the spring semester of 2006 with the visit of Her Majesty Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the founder and the president of the foundation.
The Motto (Service from the Heart) and the core values (Compassion, dignity and integrity) fit in very well with the nature of teaching profession. Teacher plays a very strong and lifelong influential role in the lives of children they teach and in shaping the future of the nation. To shoulder this responsibility effectively and in the most competent manner, the WILL to teach the children at their charge should come from the depth of their heart with the strong sense of compassion for learners respect and dignity for the teaching profession, and an indomitable personal integrity both as a teacher and an individual person.
Therefore, the Tarayana club not only offers club members to develop a spirit of compassion and voluntarism but also an opportunity to become more humane at personal level.
Aims
Ø Act as agent to disseminate information about the Tarayana Foundation and promote the activities of the foundation.
Ø Encourage social service in the community and inculcate a sense of voluntarism among the club members.
Objectives
Ø Help vulnerable individuals who are unable to sustain their life with basic needs.
Ø Provide support and guidance to the disadvantaged students in the school.
Ø Carry out the cleaning campaign in the selected areas to encourage social service and model the respect for dignity of labour.
Fundraising Activities
Ø Club member’s monthly contribution of Nu. 10/- as a membership fee.
Ø Tarayana food stalls at every college activities
Ø Monthly jam up for the trainees to refresh their mind.
Ø Screening of movies (sometime) while necessary
Ø Lottery raffle to be drawn on 11th November, 2007.
Ø Conduction of games during the weekends.
Social service activities
Ø Carry out the need survey to identify the right beneficiaries
Ø Support vulnerable families with basic needs.
Ø Identify disadvantaged school students and provide them with school uniform, stationary materials and the school fees.
Ø Adopt some places and organize the cleaning campaign.
Ø Support students of the near by schools by providing them tuition free of cost, including from pre-primary to class XII.
Ø Make the necessary arrangement for the disadvantaged individuals like, construction of house, fetching firewood, water and etc…
Club Members
The club members were left open for all the trainees to get into in the beginning of the semester. Chaired by Director, we have Ms. Kinley Selden and Mr. Sangay Jamtsho as Club advisors. There are all together 61 members, one of the largest number among the clubs of the college.
Modality of Operations
The club members meet every Saturday during the club time to discuss on the implementation of club activities planned. In addition the club members are also encouraged to think of ways to improve on the existing club activities. The club members also discuss the important activities to be carried out the very next day, i.e. on Sunday so that the classes are not disturbed by the club activities.
Responsibilities
For the smooth ad efficient coordination of different club activities, the members are assigned different responsibilities. At the executive level we have 2 secretaries, club accountant, executive members including reporters and a representative each from different courses like I, II, III and PGCE.
Club Coordinator (Secretary)
Ø Coordinates the club activities
Ø Initiate new activities for the club
Ø Disseminate information to club members on a timely basis
Ø Help different in-charges within a club in carrying out their responsibilities
Ø Coordinate visits to the beneficiaries on a regular basis to check how the beneficiaries are doing with.
Club Accountant and the Reporters
Ø Maintain record of all the club accounts
Ø Update the beneficiaries list monthly on the status of the club fund
Ø Coordinate in purchasing and giving refreshments during the club activities
Ø Mobilize the club fund by exploring for contributions from external sources.
Ø And lastly, the reporters will submit the daily report about the club activities that has been carried out and share the same with the members during the club hours.
Activities carried out during the 1st semester, 2007.
ü Went to need survey starting from Samtse area to the faraway places like Sipsoo and BukiDam and identified the needy people. (Beneficiaries)
ü Ran food stalls during the college activities like inter class B/Ball, V/Ball, F/Ball etc…
ü Taught the students of high school ranging from classes IX-XII during the mock election as a help from the club members.
ü Rebuild a house for a widow with 6 children in Sipsoo and also in Machetar
ü Contributed a sum of Nu. 10/- as a membership fee
ü Went to Sipsoo dratshang and planted trees around the dratshang
ü Washed the plates and cups of mess
ü Helped the vulnerable dogs to reach to the V/hospital to get themselves treated
ü Adopted more than 8 beneficiaries from in an around Samtse
ü Conducted a jam session every month @ 10/- per head as an entry fee
ü Maintained a club album
ü Celebrated “HAPPY TEACHERS DAY” organized by the club.
ü Organized cleaning campaign to promote cleanliness awareness in the community.
These are all the activities that we have carried out for this semester in the college and in the community spreading the message of the Tarayana Foundation. If somebody asks us what activities were carried out, then I guess not many of us will be able to recollect and tell them one after another. This means that we have done a lot making ourselves hard to recapitulate and count it on our finger tips.
Though our club is not very old, it has achieved a lot. It’s all because of all of us, our willingness to sacrifice our service, energy and time. Because we left everything aside for the mother tarayana, so has made the TARAYANA club of the college so popular in the community and in fact very popular in our college where for a single thing they point as “Tarayana is there”
Our country, like a drop of ink in the ocean wants more citizens like us who display real character of mankind and humanity: dignity of labour, integrity, cooperation, team work, respecting values etc… are some of the weapons that each of us made use of to reach to the greener side of the valley. Having reached the better side of the valley, we should not loose our hope and determination to go further into the future. Every one of us here today has a new responsibility. And this responsibility, we should take it as a challenge since all of us now have a strong foundation in our heart which can overcome all troubles in life. Make sure to use these weapons to fight and defend from the tempest: dignity of labour, spirit of voluntarism, cooperation, integrity, teamwork etc… for if you do so, you will surely overcome the surges in your life.
This goes like this:
Little drops of water
Little grains of sand
Makes the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land
Little deeds of kindness
Little words of love
Makes the earth
Like the Eden above
By –
Dorji Wangchuk
III [P] Science
Club Reporter