Some freaking people here think that Bhutanese people knows nothing more than cleaning. They undemine our capabilities and takes advantage of our status as students in dire need of work and money.
At one point we can't blame them for the long etched notion because we gave life to a living culture and blind acceptance that Bhutanese in Australia or America can do nothing but cleaning. People just started to come and start cleaning. The first thing you hear when you start job discussion or search is the famous bhutanese one liner: "You will hardly get any other job than cleaning and even our dignitaries are cleaning". Ones hope to look further is shut down abruptly and we accept it with blind faith.
I strongly believe that cleaning is a great job and everyone does it. It promotes dignity of labour. In any ways, I am not trying to discourage cleaning as a job we can do. However, even with our ego kept aside, we can do lot more than just cleaning. What's the use of our degrees and certificates as well as experiences and values. Our education and experience to do lot more remains dormant. It is a little too much for accepting that we can do nothing more than cleaning.
At one point we can't blame them for the long etched notion because we gave life to a living culture and blind acceptance that Bhutanese in Australia or America can do nothing but cleaning. People just started to come and start cleaning. The first thing you hear when you start job discussion or search is the famous bhutanese one liner: "You will hardly get any other job than cleaning and even our dignitaries are cleaning". Ones hope to look further is shut down abruptly and we accept it with blind faith.
I strongly believe that cleaning is a great job and everyone does it. It promotes dignity of labour. In any ways, I am not trying to discourage cleaning as a job we can do. However, even with our ego kept aside, we can do lot more than just cleaning. What's the use of our degrees and certificates as well as experiences and values. Our education and experience to do lot more remains dormant. It is a little too much for accepting that we can do nothing more than cleaning.
So it is with much hope and a bit of ego that I suggest Bhutanese to explore avenues beyond cleaning because we are people with values and abilities to be versatile. We have to prove to the people here that we are worth more than just a bunch of cleaners. It is also true and dissapointing to learn that some of our qualifications are not recognized here. Therefore, concerned authorities should revisit the qualifications provided by our educational institutions. One proven example is that my so called B.Ed from Paro College is accessed as equivalent to a Diploma here. It is only in rare cases that people here belive we are adequately educated and that too with much questioning.
Cleaning is a good start but we are also capable of doing more!
Note: This short article maybe a generalization in some cases but it is valid for the place I am in.
