Lhaden’s journey from student to staff with RENEW Bhutan
Lhaden as a student at school in Thimphu.
Photo: Conor Ashleigh
AHF’s partner in Bhutan, RENEW conducts critical work in protecting and uplifting children and young people who have experienced violence, abuse or neglect. Since 2011, we have worked together to help provide these vulnerable young people with care and opportunity through mental health support and education scholarships. Our goal is to strengthen child safeguarding, combat discrimination and violence and advance gender and disability inclusion in Bhutan. To evaluate our impact, AHF interviews students who have participated in our program each year to understand how it has changed their lives and aspirations for the future.
Recently, we sat down with Lhaden who began her journey as a child supported by RENEW. Now a caregiver for RENEW, Lhaden works to ensure children (housed in the same home that helped raise her) receive the care and compassion she experienced as a child - paying it forward to the next generation of kids.
Tell us about yourself and how you came to be connected with RENEW.
“My name is Lhaden. I am 25 years old and from Daganah in East Bhutan. My village is a very small village and the winters are very cold. I was very young when this happened so I don't remember all the details, but my parents had trouble at home so I was living with other family members. I was safe, but eventually those family members could not take care of me when I came of school age. I was brought to RENEW in Thimphu who took me in at their Gawaling Happy Home where I began living and started school. “
Gawaling Happy Home is a sanctuary for children and women who have experienced domestic and gender-based violence, or who have unstable home lives. Run by RENEW, the home’s purpose is to provide refuge and help its residents to regain their independence and children to flourish and fulfil their potential.
What was your life like before and after receiving support from RENEW?
“I don't have much memory of my life before the program - my life and childhood has been here in the Happy Home. I just remember that it was a hard time for me at home. I now live and work as a staff member at the Happy Home full time. It’s very peaceful. I am a caregiver and work very closely with the children that AHF and RENEW supports. I wanted to give back to the people and organisation that helped me throughout my life.”
“In my free time I enjoy doing arts and crafts and spending time with my friends. I am also currently studying to complete a degree at the Royal Thimphu College.”
As a caregiver, Lhaden’s main responsibility is to look after the children of women living in the home (typically aged five and younger) and those students who are part of RENEW’s program and call Gawaling home during school holidays. The day-to-day focus is making sure the children are fed, clean, engaged in activities and provided with mental health support from the counselors.
Tell us a little more about your experience with RENEW and how it changed your life.
“I have been supported by RENEW since I started school until I graduated Year 12 in 2017. I have learned that finishing education is important and I could not have been able to complete school without the scholarship and the support from AHF and RENEW and the people at the Happy Home that took care of me.”
Scholarships given to students through RENEW help them continue their education free of financial burden and stress. The scholarships partially cover tuition, uniforms, stationary and school supplies, and ensures that children can access school until at least Year 12. In addition to this, vulnerable students also receive counselling support to ensure that they are engaged and well adjusted to schooling life.
Do you have anything you would like to share with our Australian supporters?
“As an adult now, I know the importance of the support that RENEW and AHF provides. I give that same support to other vulnerable children through my job at RENEW. The project has lots of benefits, and my experience is one that is the same for so many students. I feel very lucky to have had the scholarship. I also feel very grateful and happy now.
I would like to thank the Australian supporters. The project enabled me to finish school and I can see every day the difference the project is making in the children's lives that I now work with. The 36 Pre-school to Year 6 students I work with are doing really well and ten of them are at the top of their class.”
The Australian Himalayan Foundation’s education program in Bhutan is funded by our generous donors.
Learn more about our Education Programs.
