JICA schemes

Grant Aid

Loan

Technical Cooperation Projects

Training Programmes

Development Studies

Emergency Disaster Relief

Follow-up Cooperation

JICA members in Bhutan as of January 2012

JICA office staff: 18

(8 internationals; 10 nationals)

Experts: 10

Senior Volunteers: 14

JOCVs: 28

JICA target areas in Bhutan

Agriculture and Rural development

Infrastructure development

Local governance

Social services development

(health, education and IT)

Dec-Jan 2011-12 Vol. 11/12-07

Mr. Shigehiro Mizuno served as a volunteer coordinator for the past two years at JICA Bhutan Office from 19 Dec 2009 to 30 Jan 2012. The following is a brief summary of Mr. Mizuno’s experiences and impressions of his assignment in Bhutan.

Time flies so fast that he didnt even notice that the time has come for him to leave Bhutan.

Being a very adaptable Japanese , he got used to Bhutanese food so fast and enjoyed chewing doma after meal. He nearly turned into a Bhutanese.

He said, he will miss Bhutan and Bhutanese people a lot and hopes to visit Bhutan in the future with his family as a tourist.”

“My stay in Bhutan for the past two years was a great success, and I have learned a lot from Bhutan and her people and I want to convey my best wishes to everyone in Bhutan and JICA Bhutan Office.”, says Mr. Mizu-no.

JICA Alumni Association of Bhutan (JAAB) has adopted a social mandate to contribute

to the social well being of the people, either by volunteering or by organizing some

social event to benefit the society at large. One such event is the JAAB Blood Dona-

tion Campaign, which is carried out every year in collaboration with the Jigme Dorji

Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH), Thimphu. For 2011, the activity was

carried out on 28th December, 2011.

The blood donation campaign was led by Dasho (Dr.) Gado Tshering, JAAB’s President,

Mr. Hidetaka Sakabe, Assistant Resident Representative, JICA Bhutan Office and a

technical team from JDWNRH led by Dr. Marukh Gyetshen.

The campaign for 2011 was carried out from 10:30am till 3:00pm. In four hours’ time,

around 50 units of blood were collected.

JICA Bhutan Newsletter is a monthly newsletter published by the JICA Bhutan Office and updated electronically on the JICA Bhutan website. It serves to better link all JICA Bhutan partners by offering briefs and current news on different sectors of JICA and the RGoB. It is for information purposes only and is not an official document. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of JICA. To join our e-mail based subscription, please contact at <bt_oso_rep@jica.go.jp>. Your comments and feedback are welcome.

What our outgoing Volunteer Coordinator says....

JAAB Blood Donation Campaign at JDWNRH

One senior Volunteer and eight JOCVs completed thier two years assignement in Bhutan and left for Japan on 3rd Jan 2012. The Resident Representaive, Mr. Tomoki Nitta, along with two volunteer coordinators (Mr. Naoto Masakane and Ms. Izumi Kuwazono) went to see them off at the Paro Airport.

From left, first row: Mr. Motoo Kuchiba, SV, Ms. Nobuko Ihara, JOCV, Ms. Kayo Iwamoto, JOCV, Ms. Mao Kuribayashi, JOCV. Second row: Mr. Tomoki Nitta, Resident Representative, Mrs. Yoko Kuchiba, Wife of SV, Ms. Hisashi Aoki, JOCV, Mr. Tsukasa Yoshida, JOCV, Mr. Dupchu Norbu, Mr. Futa Koyanagi, JOCV, Mr. Arata Higashino, JOCV and Mr. Naoto Masakane, Volunteer Coordinator.

A group of four volunteers (One Senior Volunteer and three JOCVs) arrived in the country on 5th January 2012 for thier two years assignemnt in Bhutan. They are:

Mr. Koji Yanagishima, Senior Volunteer, as an Agriculture Economic Analyst with Policy & Planning Division, Ministry of Agriculture & Forests.Ms. Astuko Takai, JOCV, as an Art Instructor with Gaselo Lower Secondary School, Wangduee.Ms. Mari Tayama, JOCV, as an Art Instructor with Woochu Lower Secondary School, Paro.Ms. Aya Eto, JOCV, as an Mathematics Teacher with Ku-zhucheng Middle Secondary School, Thimphu.

From Left: Ms. Aya Eto, Ms. Mari Tayama, Ms. Atsuko Takai, and Mr. Koji Yanagishima

Mr. Minoru Ikegami, Volunteer Coordinator arrived in Bhutan on 16th January 2012 to succeed Mr. Shigehiro Mizuno. Mr. Ikegami will be the incharge for volunteers for the Infrastructure and Environment related sectors.

Bhutan is Mr. Ikegami’s 5th assigned country as a volunteer coordinator and he says he is very happy and look forward to working in Bhutan for the next two years. And he is also looking forward in assisting Bhutan’s happiness by all means and at the same time he wants to enjoy Bhutanese food as much as possible, which is his hobby.Before he didnt have much information about Bhutan except that is a Himalayan country.During last 25 years, he was assigned to Ghana, Botswana, Belize and Indonesia.

For more information

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)P.O. Box 217, Doy-bum Lam, Above Memorial Chorten,Thimphu, Bhutan

Newsletter Team

Kinley Dorji, Senior Programme OfficerTshering Palden, Program Officer Chenga Lham, PR Officer

Tel: (975) 2-322030, 323218, 328074, 324571,324463

Fax: (975) 2-323089

Website: <http://www.jica.go.jp/bhutan/index.html>

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