Summer 2008

Bhutan bound

Two generations ago, the picturesque Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan had few roads, a handful of telephones, a smattering of schools and was virtually isolated from the rest of the world due to its intimidating geography and government policies. Today the Kingdom, which sits between China and India, is slowly opening its doors to the outside world.

Last February, Dr. Susan Walcott and Dr. Joe Morgan of the geography department traveled 30 hours to Bhutan along with geography students Mayur Gosai and Leanne Sulewski. The team's mission was to assist the Bhutanese government with constructing the country's first Geographic Information Systems maps to help with urban planning and to upgrade maps of Thimphu, the country's capital.

“Bhutan wants to modernize, but they want to do it carefully,” said Walcott, who has visited Bhutan three times at the invitation of the Bhutanese government. Her latest trip was funded by a $15,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. “Our job is to help them modernize by creating new maps.”

After arriving in Thimphu, the contingent traveled for two days on winding mountain roads and crossed 6,000-foot peaks to arrive at the Royal University of Bhutan. There, Walcott and Morgan lectured to Bhutanese students. The group also delivered books, journals, software, GPS systems and other materials to Bhutan's only geography department. Walcott and Morgan also gave presentations to the Bhutan Telecomm, the country's only telecommunications company.

Internet service did not arrive in Bhutan until 1999.

The visit was arranged in part through Tshering “Tobey” Tobgay, an undergraduate geography major and UNCG's sole student from Bhutan.

“Bhutan is one of the last Himalayan Buddhist communities,” Walcott said. In the 1970s, the Bhutanese government established the Gross National Happiness Index to measure the economic success based on the country's Buddhist spiritual values. The index includes economic development, preservation of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment and establishment of good governance.

UNCG is contributing to Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index by contributing maps and providing assistance with land management systems that will help preserve fragile ecosystems as well as support sustainable livelihoods, Walcott said.

Closer to home, the geography department created maps of Bhutan for display at this summer's Smithsonian Institution's Folkways Festival on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

For Walcott and her students, visiting a country that ranks happiness, care of the environment and good governance was an eye-opening experience. “There is no garbage in Bhutan,” Walcott said. “Monks put out receptacles saying ‘I ♥ garbage.’”