Teachers Take Plunge From Himalayan Heights To The Ocean

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday June 25, 2001

Terry Smyth

They came from remote villages at the roof of the world. Never before had they seen a city or heard such a clamour of noise. Never had they seen the sea.

``If I wade in the salt water, will it harm my feet?" asked Ugyen Dorji.

He was at Manly Beach at the weekend with 11 fellow primary school teachers from the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Sponsored by UNICEF, they have spent five weeks in rural schools in northern NSW, learning to teach composite classes to offset a teacher shortage at home.

Until now, none of them had been on a boat. A trip on a Manly ferry fixed that and the matters of seeing a city and the sea.

For people from villages up to 6,000 metres above sea level, the wonders never ceased.

Tserwang Norbu comes from mountainous country where the nearest road is a three-day trek away. Taking in the cityscape, he said: ``It's so noisy it's scary, while my village is so quiet."

``It's like a dream!" said Tshering Chozon, as the ferry nudged towards Manly. Earlier, she had encountered an escalator for the first time and was reluctant to step onto it.

Some of the Bhutanese were amazed the sea water was salt. ``If I lived in Australia I'd be a surfer," said Karma Gayleg.

But the Bhutanese, who leave Australia today, said that for all Sydney's wonders they were not envious of its relative affluence. In Bhutan, official government policy is: ``Gross national happiness is more important than gross national product."