SARIC Rising Tide

36 S ANGAY CHODEN BHUTAN 37 the mountains we climb If there is one thing life has taught me, it is what we call ‘Tha Dhamtse’: have the courage to do the right thing, with integrity and loyalty. “I t wasn’t the world’s shortest commute,” says Sangay Choden with a wry grin. “When I was on my first job, I was part of a team installing a transmission line. We are a mountainous country and that meant walking two to three hours to get to the site. As the only woman on the team, I would walk on to the closest village to ask for a room to stay during the installation. Also, as a woman, I would drink less water during the day, so I didn’t have to think too much about breaks.” A manager with the Bhutan Power Corporation Limited, Sangay gets her undeniable grit from her father, a man who has climbed metaphorical mountains himself. “He wasn’t educated in any formal sense, but taught himself to speak our national language, Dzongkha,” she adds, with no small measure of pride. After resigning from the army, he represented the people of his community, eventually leading to his selection as a cabinet member. This gave him the chance to move his family across to the (then) more developed western Bhutan, where Sangay would complete her education. The first in her family to study science, she attended the College of Science and Technology on a full scholarship through the Royal University of Bhutan, graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering. STEM is attracting increased attention in Bhutan, with Sangay observing the rise of national programs offering computer- based education to schools from an early age. She also notes the continuing disparity between graduation rates and the number of women applying for jobs. It’s a gap she hopes to address by mentoring students as well as peers in the industry to help create a more inclusive and supportive environment. When we do that, nothing becomes impossible. It is central to the way our society functions and I use this at work every day. It has helped me deal with thousands of customers - even the tough ones - and it teaches me to never be afraid.” THE MOUNTAINS WE CLIMB