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FROM MOVE FOR
HEALTH TO HEALTH MARATHON
(His Excellency Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, Bhutan's Minister for Health and Education
tries his endurance across the roughest surface of the earth for the future
health of the people of Bhutan)
Trashigang District was swathed in clouds and rain on the
morning of 25th September 2002. We joined His Excellency Lyonpo Sangay
Ngedup, Bhutan's
Minister for Health and Education for breakfast at the Government Guest
House. As he jovially greeted us in the dining room, the weather did not seem
to bother him at all.
We gathered in the courtyard outside the Trashigang Dzong
(Administrative Headquarters) where Dasho Dzongdag, the District
Administrator, gave a speech about the Health Walk and wished the Minister
and his six-member team a safe 560 kilometer journey on foot across the
country to Thimphu. It would take 16 days to
cross the nine mountains that range between 10,000 feet to 13,000 feet.
During the morning programme, His Excellency expressed his
deep appreciation to the people of the 4 districts of the Eastern Region for
their full support. In a phone interview with BBC Radio, he mentioned that he
was pleasantly surprised by the contributions to the Health Trust Fund
offered by the people within the country itself. The districts of
Samdrupjonkhar, Pema Gatshel, Trashigang and Trashi Yangtse all handed their
contributions to His Excellency.
Finishing the preliminaries, we followed the Minister and
his team down the precipitous footpath. The monks of Trashigang Dzong bade
farewell by blowing soulful jalings (religious musical instruments) from the
terrace below the Dzong. Down below at Chazam (iron bridge), on the right
side of the bank, we could see the students and people from Trashi Yangtse
district. They had started the walk from their district at 4 a.m. in the
morning so as to reach Chazam to see off the trekkers. Following the main
highway on left side of the river was the group consisting of Government
officials, students from Sherubtse
College and the
schools, and the business community of Trashigang. The long queue of the
Minister joined the others at Chazam for the final flag off at 8:30 a.m.
The monks offered prayers for the safety and success of
the group in Trashigang Dzong on the previous day. At Chazam the monks again
offered a brief prayer in the drenching rain. While speaking to almost 1,000
people who had gathered there, His Excellency said, "We will draw
strength from your strength, we will draw breath from your breath ... You will
all be travelling with us in spirit."
Hailing the thematic words "We will walk for
Heatlh!", His Excellency Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup flagged off the walk with
an enormous pack-bag on his back and a walking stick. A tea-sieve and few
ladles hung on his pack-bag. In the driving rain, the crowd, all wearing the
Walk-for-Health T-shirts and caps, marched about 9 kilometers along the motor
road, singing good-will songs. Students performed dances as they joined the
march. Some of us who were out of shape found it difficult to keep up with
the trekkers although we did not have anything to carry.
 Finally
we were at Yayung where the team took a breather, resting their packs on the
walking sticks while the students performed a few dances. The easy path ended
there and the then the real ancient mule track that the team was to follow
zig-zagged up the steep slope. As the team started their first ascent, the
crowd waved and hailed at them. Soon the team reached the skyline high above,
waived at us and, after a brief pause, vanished out of sight. The rain kept
drumming on our already drenched caps and shirts. We shrugged ourselves and
boarded our cars to move to Thimphu and wait
for them.
The two-day journey back to Thimphu
by car tired us. But it would be no comparison to the discomfort the trekkers
would be facing. The load, the steep ridges and mountains, the thick jungle
and fast rivers, the rain and the landslides, the leeches and stinging
nettles, the wild animals and snakes - all these would make their life
miserable. And to cap it all, they - with no exception to the Minister - have
to pitch their own tents and cook their own meals. The Minister would be a
common man with an exceptional purpose during the entire trip.
One of this purpose is to advocate physical exercise for
good health. The modern sedentary lifestyle has taken the most important
ingredient out of life thus making people prone to diseases. If WHO wished
Member Countries to make something out of the World Health Day themes, this
effort from His Excellency Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup is a demonstration that the
Countries do take the Global health themes seriously.
The second purpose according to the Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup
is to pay tribute to the nation's 2,600 health workers who brave the
unfriendly terrain everyday to provide health care service to the people.
But the main aim of the Health Walk remains clear. His
Excellency Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup took the initiative to create the Health
Trust Fund for Bhutan so
that the common people in Bhutan
can continue to receive free primary health care service. The aim of the
Health Trust Fund is to pool US $ 24 million with the Government putting one
dollar for every dollar that has been received from outside. After
accumulating about US $ 18 million, there was not much progress for sometime.
Speaking to the gathering in Trashigang before the walk, His Excellency said
that "he started making the noise again" to draw further attention
to the Health Trust Fund initiative. With this Health Walk, Bhutan is
putting a moderate bucket for rain. The contents of this bucket when full to
the brim will benefit enormous number of ailing people in Bhutan,
especially children and women in the years to come. When sustainability is
the key word in every donor agency's cooperation policy, a few drops into
this bucket will perhaps agree with their own assistance philosophy.
© Photo and article
by :
Norbu Wangchuk
NPO (AO)
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