Lunana. A yak in the classroom

With one year left on his teaching contract, Ugyan is dispatched to Bhutan’s most remote village. Then there is the yak taking up space in the classroom.

 Lunana,   A, Yak In The Classroom 1 Hr 50Mins

Writer/Director:   Pawo-Choying Dorji   

Starring:  Sherab Darji as Ugyen and Kunzing Wangdi as Asha, the village chief

Gentle and lilting:                                                                                                                                                 

Lunana is one key area of happiness. The Bhutanese government's measure for this initiative is education, which is compulsory for citizens regardless of their location. It is for this reason that Ugyen, with one year left on his teaching contract, is consigned to the country’s most remote village. An aspiring young musician living with his grandmother, he plans to leave Bhutan as soon as he is able, so is less than thrilled about the assignment. But once his headphones run out of battery, he starts to open up to the sounds of the environment around him, from the delicate strains of bird songs to the folk songs his yak-herder guides sing as they stroll. Before reaching Lunana, Uygen is met by the village’s population of 56, who hail him as a visiting dignitary. It soon becomes clear that it is exactly what he represents. “I have hope that you will give these children the education they need to become more than yak herders and “cordyceps gatherers,” says Asha, the Village Chief. Ugyens’ pupils are on the same page, bright-eyed, proclaiming that the teacher’s “touch the future” and gradually awaken Ugyen to the truth of this. Of course, the remote village (the name of which translates to Dark Valley) poses its fair share of challenges. The schoolhouse is nothing more than a wooden hut with mud walls, and Ugyen’s accommodation is similarly spartan, offering scant protection from the glacial winds. And then there is THAT YAK- taking up space in the classroom to stay warm in the winter. His name is NORBU, which means “wish-fulfilling jewel” and suggests the role Ugyen will play in helping Lunanas children towards realising their dreams.