At Home in the Himalayas

Mark (right) with his Tibetan host father, Tashi, who escaped injury during the recent devastating earthquake.
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Mark McCrae-Hokenson ’15 studied abroad and conducted research in a landlocked Himalayan country. Bhutan is bordered by India and the People’s Republic of China:

He wrote the following:

“I did an independent study of organic farming in Bhutan. This led me away from monasteries and into fields, and I don’t regret the choice. The pages I wrote for the project felt effortless, as it was something I was very interested in.

In the early 1970s, the king of Bhutan declared a national focus not on GDP (gross domestic product), but on GNH (Gross National Happiness), which requires a sustainable approach to development. One of Bhutan’s goals is to be 100 percent organic by 2020, which is at odds with the country’s goal to increase self-sufficiency and food security. So I asked farmers, scholars, researchers, and members of the government about the prospects for a 100 percent organic Bhutan. I looked at barriers to going organic and initiatives to overcome or mitigate those barriers.

I visited two countries, and saw an untold number of new things. It is one thing to look at a globe and it is another to fly for 18 hours and end up on the other side of the earth.”

September 21 2015

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