Back to Bhutan!

After a long wait and numerous new immigration obstacles, our visas have finally been approved and we will soon be off for what will likely be our fourth and final season in Shangri La.

So much has changed in the six years since our first visit. MD Psychiatric manpower has gone from two psychiatrists in country to eight, with four more psychiatric residents in the pipeline. The mental health sequelae of the COVID 19 pandemic, as exemplary as its handling was by the people of Bhutan, served as a wake-up call to the need for mental health services. At the initiative of Her Majesty, The Gyaltsuen, and with her continued patronage, training and services have flourished. Just since our last visit fifteen months ago, a new substance use rehab facility with a capacity of 200 residents has been launched in Thimphu and a residential school for youth impacted by substance abuse has opened. We’re excited to witness in mid-October the inauguration of the PEMA Center with its 60 bedded inclusive psychiatric hospital serving all ages and a separate outpatient mental health facility. Pictures will certainly follow. More on the PEMA Secretariat and its amazing work at the link:

thepema.gov.bt

"Mental health will have the national priority it deserves."
Her Majesty, The Gyaltsuen

Especially exciting this visit will be the first Global Peace Prayer Festival, spanning two weeks in November. Prominent lamas and pilgrims from around the world, of every sect of Buddhism including my own, Soto Zen, will gather in Thimphu to offer prayers for world peace. You can follow at http://www.globalpeaceprayers.org

Stay tuned for the final installments of Dragonkingdom.blog. I’m glad to see so many visitors still enjoying the posts and happy to resume sharing missives from the Land of the Thunder Dragon.

Peace