Monthly Newsletter (September 2018)
News and Democracy Guidebook in Braille
Reproduction of the guidebook will help reach out to visually impaired persons.
Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) is going to reproduce contents on ‘News and Democracy Literacy’ in Braille to reach out to visually impaired persons in its move to increase News and Media Literacy coverage to a wider section of the population.
The decision comes following the signing of a Memorandum Understanding with Royal Education Council (REC) to reproduce ‘News and Democracy Guidebook’ in Braille on 7 September at BCMD.
The guidebook will be reproduced to help the visually impaired section of the population. The guidebook will be used to train and educate people with visual impairment to gauge information and news critically when consuming information. Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation is supporting the reproduction of ‘News and Democracy ’ content in Braille.
Retreat to Build Stronger and Efficient Team
As one of the leading civil society organisations striving to continuously grow as an organisation, Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) conducted its annual retreat to work towards a stronger and efficient team, and improve its strategic direction.
The team looks at how it can improve its strategic direction in the current context.
The two-day retreat at Paro looked at organisational identity and future direction to see how the Centre can improve its strategic direction in the current context of Bhutan. Sustainability and streamlining standard practices at the Centre were some of the themes discussed at the retreat.
Constituents for civil society play as much a significant role as the team itself – the retreat discussed on strategic policy and plans to better BCMD’s relationship, networking, and communication with its donors, supporters, partners, and alumni. ToR for its employees was also revised with new targets following a session on personal development.
The team also visited Keysa Spring water source that Shaba Higher Secondary School adopted as one of the step-down local action projects last year.
Ranjung Central School Launches News Letter
Featuring events within its campus, Rangjung Central School (RCS) launched its newsletter, ‘The Lens of Rangjung CS’ in September this year.
The coordinator from RCS, Yeshey Dorji, said that he was very happy with the efforts the students invested in producing the newsletter. “Media club is a good platform for those genuinely interested students in media to learn media and multimedia skills,’ Yeshey Dorji said.
To students, the newsletter opens up new avenues for learning.
A media club member Kinzang Tobgay said that he was very proud to be involved in the making of the newsletter.’ “I learned photography and news reporting in the media club,” Kinzang Tobgay said.
The newsletter featured stories on Women’s Day Celebration, Social Forestry Day, academic awards, Teachers’ Day, and International Children’s Day, among others. CISU supported the production of the newsletter.
Students Maps Communities in Paro
The mapping exercise enables students to understand issues in localities and find solutions.
The students of Utpal Academy in Paro visited the nearby communities – Lango, Drugyel, and Satsham to understand people and the communities they are living in.
During the community mapping – young people to talk to community people to understand their issues and design and plan simple local actions to help resolve issues plaguing the communities. The step-down training is a part of Building Community Initiative in Paro.
Through community mapping, young mappers learn to interact with people and enable them to work in a team, and to realise their potential to bring about changes in the communities. A class 11 Arts ‘C’ student Tandin Tshering attending the training for the first time said that the training helped him overcome nervousness when talking to other people.
“I realised my confidence level was growing. I still have more platforms to face and work on it,” Tandin Tshering said. International IDEA funded the project.
Upcoming Activities
- Paro Town Hall Meeting October 4
- Senior Leadership Summit October 5-6
- The Druk Journal Conversations in Four Colleges