Chablop: A Title, Blessing and Message

 At the 2016 World Toilet Summit in East Malaysia, heads of toilet associations of different countries took to the stage and shared great stories about their works and achievements. The scale of their work and the technologies they used were incredible, but one tragic twist in all their stories was the lack of support from the leadership of their countries. They were yet to convince their leaders of the significance of what they were doing. They were fighting to get their leaders’ attention to their cause.

I was to speak in the afternoon of the second day of the summit. By then, people had heard enough toilet stories to have any more appetite, let alone from an underdog of a small country. Attending the summit for the first time, the afternoon slot was the best I could get, which was seemingly the time when the hall gradually became empty.

I projected the photograph of His Majesty the King and me, which mirrored on some seven giant screens across the gigantic hall, and told them stories of how I have the blessings of my King in what I do. When I told them that His Majesty the King not only recognized my work but also bestowed upon me a new title of Toilet Teacher, I heard the loudest round of applause in that hall that boring afternoon. That made me the only country representative at the summit who, with a little guilt of having to contradict the rest in the house, spoke proudly about having the support of the King of his country.

The crowd wouldn’t be able to comprehend if I told them that the very idea of such initiatives was inspired by the King himself, who in his national addresses subtly sowed the seeds in the minds of his people.

In 2015, during the Royal Bhutan Flower Exhibition in Paro, His Majesty said, “Where we live must be clean, safe, organized, and beautiful, for national pride, national integrity, and for our bright future. This too is nation-building.” I was then experimenting with Bhutan Toilet Org as an online campaign, and that royal message seemed to me like a personal command. I immediately began working on making toilets across the country ‘clean, safe, organized, and beautiful,’ and that was the turning point.

When His Majesty summoned me during the 2016 Paro Tshechu, where I was managing the public toilet along with a team of over sixty young people, I was least expecting it. I still have a vivid memory of that auspicious moment. Dasho Zimpon made me wait on the bridge. I was the only person kept on the bridge, and the next person I would see was His Majesty. I could see thousands of people on both ends of the bridge waiting to get a glimpse of His Majesty, and here I was waiting to meet my King face to face.

Then came the moment. I couldn’t look up directly, but I could make out from the approaching radiance that His Majesty had come. I bowed down to pay my respects and froze back to stillness. His Majesty congratulated me on the clean toilet facility we had arranged for the public at the Tshechu ground. For the King to know about the condition of the public toilet at a local festival was enthralling.

I had crossed that bridge a thousand times in my life, but even in my most beautiful dream, I hadn’t seen myself walking with the King and talking about toilets. The bridge seemed too short that day. At the other end of the bridge, His Majesty stopped and shared very personal stories of toilet issues in our country and how things are in other countries. I pledged my commitment and resolve to work for the cause till the end, and it was perhaps then that I truly felt the gravity of the responsibility. With the blessing of the King himself, everything suddenly seemed so possible.

To make this precious moment live with me forever, His Majesty put his left arm around my shoulder and granted a Kupar, with special permission to share it on social media. He knew I would need this to remain motivated each day, to rise above the social stigma, and to influence people to support me. The photograph that was released that evening worked its first magic on my mother, who was, until then, upset at me for leaving my job and going around cleaning public toilets.

Before I could fully absorb the glory of this moment, I heard my name in His Majesty’s address at the closing ceremony of the second flower exhibition at Ugyen Pelri Palace ground. It didn’t feel real until someone pushed me right in front to face His Majesty. In a dream-like state, I could hear His Majesty: “Passang used to be a teacher. He resigned to take up the task of providing clean toilets to people… and I have been thinking of giving him a name… I should call him Chablop.”

For the King to bestow me a name in public carried profound significance. I knew it wasn’t for what I had done but for what I must do. The title was to be attached to my name to remind me each day to work toward truly deserving and honoring it.

Since then, Bhutan Toilet Org has grown into one of the most effective civil society organizations that has started a toilet revolution in the country, as envisioned and guided by His Majesty the King.

And in 2024, after eight years of unwavering service, I finally felt deserving of the title that was bestowed upon me. I officially changed my name to Chablop Passu, embracing not just the honor but also the responsibility that comes with it. His Majesty’s blessing was not only a profound personal gift but also a message to the people of Bhutan—when the King places his trust in someone, it is a call for everyone to show their support.

Official Announcement: Name Change to Chablop Passu

 I am thrilled to share a milestone moment in my life with all of you. Back in 2016, His Majesty the King graciously bestowed upon me the name Chablop Passu—a name that carries immense meaning, where "Chablop" signifies "the Toilet Teacher." Back then, I had just started Bhutan Toilet Org and had yet to do anything significant to deserve such an honor, but I knew it was His Majesty’s blessing to show me the direction and keep me inspired through this journey. The magic really worked; each time someone called me Chablop, I was reminded of my purpose in life.

But for the past 8 years, I have held on, unsure if I could truly carry the responsibility that comes with such an honor. It was a period of reflection and growth. I wanted to ensure that I lived up to the expectations and truly earned the name I was given.

Now, after years of dedicated work and having achieved much in this field, I feel confident and ready. Today, I am happy to announce that I have officially applied for and successfully changed my name in the census from Passang Tshering to Chablop Passu.

This change is not just about a name but symbolizes a renewed commitment to continue serving our communities with even greater dedication. I am grateful to everyone who has supported and walked with me on this journey, which is anything but easy.

Here’s to new beginnings and continuing our mission together under the name Chablop Passu.

CSO Contribution to Sanitation in Bhutan

The emergence of Bhutan's own national civil society organization (CSO) in the sanitation sector is a recent development. However, with their volunteers and activities at the grassroots levels, their contributions are significant in raising awareness, civic responsibility and influencing social changes. The decades of government efforts found a complementing partner in civil society to make it complete.

Following are some of the contributions made by the national CSOs in sanitation;

1. Policy Dialogue: CSOs contributed significantly to influencing, lobbying, drafting and reviewing national sanitation policies, guidelines, and roadmap. They are also a major player in creating awareness on sanitation issues and mobilizing volunteers to become a part of the solution. They are also responsible for highlighting the government's efforts and letting people do their part.

2. Proper management of public toilets: many public toilet facilities have become defunct without proper ownership or management. CSO volunteers conducted mass cleaning campaigns to make the facilities usable and handed them over to caretakers.

3. School Toilet Upgrade: students were using old toilets that are difficult to clean and maintain hygiene. With students using unsafe and dirty toilets, their behaviours are reflected in the way the Bhutanese perceive toilets. Realizing the influence of school toilets on overall national sanitation, CSO partnered with the Ministry of Education and development partners to upgrade over 2800 units of school toilets using smart methods and technologies. Over 400 school staff are trained to carry out maintenance work. 

4. Monastic School Toilet: to make toilet facilities in the monastic schools clean and safe for the monks and nuns, the old toilets were upgraded using the same method carried out in the schools. The monks are trained to maintain and manage the facilities hence.



5. Toilet for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and Elderly: For people who cannot go to the toilet or use ordinary toilets due to disabilities, age or sickness, CSOs have taken various initiatives to either make toilets accessible or bring in innovative technologies to put toilets closer to the people. Small portable toilets were introduced as bedside toilets that are made available to people in various forms and models.

6. Emergency Toilets; During the pandemic, hundreds of duty stations were built along the borders and hundreds more outside the quarantine facilities. CSOs rose to the occasion and helped provide sanitation facilities for duty personnel across the country and for the displaced communities and schools. 

7. Rural Toilets: CSOs have worked with communities that are hard to reach and that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in improving their livelihood. Communities are empowered with economically viable activities and provided housing and sanitation that are resilient and in coherence with their environment. About 1000 rural families who could not afford sanitation facilities were supported by various CSOs. On top of that, CSOs have brought in technologies to upgrade hundreds of old rural toilets to speed up government efforts to achieve 100% ODF. 

8. Event Toilet: During events, the venues do not have sufficient toilet facilities. These events usually lead to massive public health issues. But CSOs have developed modern interventions to provide portable toilet facilities and safe temporary toilets to tackle the issue.

9. Professional Toilet Managers: There are no professional sanitation workers. We have been dependent on foreign workers to deal with the dirty job. CSOs have worked to create opportunities for the emergence of local professionals who are proud and skilled in doing the job. Over 200 Bhutanese cleaners are trained to manage toilets professionally. 




Note: The above write-up is a brief note prepared to be included in a national presentation to be made at SaniLearn Workshop in Sri Lanka. It includes the works of CSOs like Bhutan Toilet Org, Tarayana Foundation, Ability Bhutan Society, RSPN, Rotary Club of Thimphu, among others. I am sharing this to celebrate CSO's contributions to sanitation to reserve World Toilet Day.

And as the founder of Bhutan Toilet Org, I would like to thank UNICEF, Save the Children, WHO Bhutan, the Education Ministry, Helvetas Bhutan, the European Union, SARAYA, LIXIL, Dept of Tourism and friends from Japan who supported us in carrying out the above activities. I want to remember all those generous private donors for believing in us. Look how far we have come. Thank you so much. 

Today, we offer our solemn gratitude to His Majesty the King for the vision, direction and handholding from the beginning and throughout. We rededicate our commitment to take it to the end without any compromise.

The Bhutanese Front-page from April 2016

While looking for something in my trunk, I found this issue of The Bhutanese Newspaper carefully preserved in a folder. My wife says she treasured it. I am grateful to The Bhutanese newspaper for printing this picture, which is the greatest moment in my life, on the front page of the April 2, 2016 issue. It was during the initial years of Bhutan Toilet Org, that we were making feeble attempts to change the state of Bhutanese public toilets. 

This moment that's captured in this picture is significant because it was there His Majesty the King put his hand on my shoulder and blessed me on this long journey to change toilets in the country. It was this picture which convinced my mother that I was on a mission far more significant than her disappointment in my resignation from the government job. 

Toilet Management Training

Since announcing this training a few days ago about 50 people have signed up, out of which some 20 of them are civil servants in officer's position, which means they are not cleaners. While it's encouraging to see non-cleaners showing interest in the training, we would like to focus the training only on the real cleaners who are employed as cleaners. It doesn't matter whether you are in the private or public sector as long as you are a cleaner. 

A little boy manning a public toilet in Jaigoan

The training will cover the following;

1. Building a positive social identity as cleaners and rise above the stigma.

It's a mind game. We want to tell stories to let the cleaners understand the purpose of their work and walk out of our training with pride and self-respect. Of the many stories, we will definitely share about the Janitor who helped Nasa put a Man on the Moon.

In 1962, During a visit to NASA, President John F. Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom down the hallway. He walked over to the man and said, "Hi, I'm Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?"

"Well, Mr President," the janitor responded, "I'm helping put a man on the moon."

2. Understanding a Clean Toilet and knowing what it takes to achieve that.

Cleaners are generally illiterate and come from the poorer section of the society where they make do with basic or no facilities at all. Their idea of a clean toilet may not be clean enough. They need to see their goals with clarity in order to work toward that. 

Giving a short course to Memorial Chorten Toilet Manager 

The venue will be in a good hotel where we could do a practical session in their toilets, and where we could show good examples of toilets to the participants. The two days at the hotel they must see how consistently the toilets are kept well by the hotel staff. 

3. Using the right tools and gears for safety and Dignity 

Using the right tools and gears can not only ensure safety but also make the work really easy and stylish. If we are going to change people's perspectives on cleaning job we must begin with this; a cleaner in a clean uniform with boots and gloves and holding a good mop will give an impression of a passionate worker who knows his job well. It adds dignity to the job. 

4. Basic skilling in plumbing, carpentry, electrical and masonry will be given to skill-up the cleaners to enable them to carry out timely maintenance. If we observe carefully, all big damages start small and gradually. One nail on time can save a toilet from falling apart. But often in the absence of basic skills and accountability, even the most manageable damages are kept aside for the annual maintenance budget. 

5. Use of daily cleaning Checklist to ensure consistency 

By streamlining the job of the cleaners through a daily system of check and balance that will ensure consistency and sustainability. This is effectively used in every organization, including shopping malls in big cities, it's, therefore, high time we introduce it in Bhutan.

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Sharing a moment with SJ town toilet manager

If you know someone who needs this training please let them know, and if the person is unable to fill out the form kindly help them. But note that it's only for the cleaners. 

Talking about the overwhelming response we got from general civil servants, some of my friends said it could for the want of a certificate that may be useful while seeking similar jobs in counties like Australia. With no affiliation with any institute in Australia, our certificate, even if we issued one, may not carry any weight at the moment. But, it has opened our eyes to the possibility of a similar arrangement that could help earn revenue for Bhutan Toilet Org from the training course and guarantee employment in the cleaning sector down under. It's a good dream, isn't it?

May We Check Your Toilet?

There has to be a strong correlation between the people in the management and the condition of the toilet in their offices. It sounds strange but the toilets do reflect the values and attitude of the people who are using it. There may be several other factors but good management will never allow its office toilets to stink, will they? 

During the Ambassador Conference, Dr Lam Dorji facilitated a session with the toilet ambassadors and they agreed to carry out a survey to quietly assess the office toilets and find out which type of management or leadership pay serious attention to the condition of the toilets. The results will be shared with the public through all media platforms.         

To get honest data from the assessment, we must not announce the dates. We should tiptoe into the survey without alerting anyone. But in case if some offices need us to seek approvals and permissions to carry out our survey, then I must do it right here with this post:

 "May we check your toilet?" I hope you won't say no.

Just to give you a heads up, the following questions will be included (but not limited to) in the survey;

1. Are there separate toilets for women?
2. Are the toilet walls and floor free of dirt, stains, cobwebs?
3. Are the toilet pans, urinals and washbasins stainless? 
4. Is there running water in the toilet?
5. Is the toilet floor kept clean and dry? 
6. Does the toile have good lighting?
7. Is the toilet well ventinlated?
8. Are the proper doors with latches? 
9. Are there adequate cleaning tools?
10. Is there a trained cleaner? 

The Toilet Ambassadors of Bhutan

Who are these toilet ambassadors?

They are regular civil servants from each Dzongkhag and students from Royal University colleges who came forward to support Bhutan Toilet Org in taking our mission to the ground in their communities. They are volunteers. They are natural leaders who create a network of volunteers around them. They are the bridge between us and their Dzongkhag or College.

How are they chosen?

They came forward voluntarily. We didn't choose them. They chose us. We found most of them by chance. Only in some rare cases I personally asked my friends to help. The position of BTO ambassador is so undefined that it takes a huge supply of goodwill and trust to find or become one. 

However, when an ambassador goes on transfer or leaves for studies, we seek his/her recommendation to find a replacement.

How important are they?

We are a relatively new CSO but within a short span of time, we managed to overcome a lot and made a huge impact. The secret to our success is our ambassadors. They are on the ground. They multiply our efforts and reach. 

How much are they paid?

They are paid in millions worth of smiles and gratitude from people whose lives they touch. It would be an insult to put a price tag on their profound efforts. It's the purest form of volunteerism, one in which, the dirtiest work is done with the cleanest heart. 

What's Ambassador Conference? 

We have never met our ambassadors formally before. We coordinated on Facebook messenger and depended on various mode of communication to keep in touch. For the first time, we organised an Ambassador Conference to bring us all together, face to face and streamline our efforts. It may become an annual event considering the importance of such a platform.

Earlier, in the absence of any written guidelines, some ambassadors have done dozens of activities while others couldn't even define their role. This conference helped us share experiences and draw common grounds. We now have simple and clear terms of reference, action plan and communication strategy. We hope to make it better over the years.

How Better School Toilets Can Influence Better Public Toilet

Condition of Public toilets of a country is a perfect reflection of its school toilets. We cannot pretend to be surprised to see a scandalising public toilet when we haven’t paid attention to school toilets, where the foundation is built. As is school toilet, so shall public toilet be.

Considering the conditions of school toilets during our school days in the ’90s, we have come a long way but in comparison to the outside world, we are nowhere. There are some school toilet that could infect you just by looking at their pictures, and you can imagine children using them. I personally conclude that the cleanliness of school toilet depends absolutely on the cleanliness of the school leadership.

It’s not the lack of facility but the misuse and negligence of the facility, which can be attributed to a general lack of social ethics in the culture of the school

"The Culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.”-Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker

At home, everyone knows they need to flush after using the toilet, that shoving a solid thing down the toilet would cause blockage, and that when the toilet door is falling apart one needs to nail it back or tell someone to do it, but what happens to that sense of responsibility when a child comes to school? Where does it disappear? What makes them so carefree and mindless? 

Signing MoU with Ministry of Education

This can be best explained as herd mentality, wherein we see that even a well-behaved child tends to be as mindless as the rest of the students. Basically, it’s a crowd of good youths not being good enough collectively. It usually happens among animals and turns out we are animals too. But the good news is that we can influence that herd mentality and turn things around just by influencing a small part of of the group. Five per cent to be precise. And that’s perhaps what we call the building of culture. We focus on the golden five per cent. We have hope. 

However, we need better toilets to make the new beginning but looking at the condition of toilets in schools across the country, we seemed to need a lot of time and lot of money just to set the stage for a new beginning. We can neither afford that much time nor have that amount of money. Therefore, we needed a smart solution to upgrade the old toilets, in record time and at the lowest cost possible. On top of that, the toilet must be resilient enough to withstand the misuse and survive to see the rise of new toilet culture. 



That’s when SATO technology came into the picture. It was the silver bullet we found. Bhutan Toilet Org partnered with UNICEF Bhutan and Ministry of Education to upgrade all old school toilet by 2020 end. From the data available from five Dzongkhag’s we have completed, we are looking at close to 3000 units of toilets at Nu.9 million. This would have cost government over Nu. 240 million if done in a conventional way. 



By the end of 2020, we are expecting to get rid of all pit latrines and aqua privy toilets from the school and have equity in terms of toilet facility across all schools. That’s when we shall see the beginning of a complete shift in the herd mentality. If this goes according to the plan, then in the next five to ten years, public toilets across the country will be in perfect conditions even without caretakers. 

Once school toilet is upgraded, the first great step schools can take toward building good toilet culture in school is by letting teacher share toilet with the students. 

SATO technology is donated to Bhutan Toilet Org by Lixil Japan through Junior Chamber International (JCI). 

Bedside Toilet- Dignity and Desperation

Bedside Toilet Borrowing program was created at Bhutan Toilet Org in 2017, almost accidentally. We had four units of portable potty, which were bought to be used as guest toilets during Highland Festival in Laya, but after realising that the potties wouldn’t be suitable for huge public events we kept them in the office corner for quite sometime.


One day, I got a call from Aue Kuenga Tenzin Supe asking me if I could help his dying friend deal with his toilet trouble. His friend was fighting lung cancer and didn’t have the strength to cover the distance between his bed and the toilet. That’s when we discovered where our potty could be used. We sent him a set immediately. His friend called to thank me after receiving the toilet, and I could hear him gasping for air as he struggled between his words. He told me how the toilet next to his bed had solved his nightmare. We felt so sorry to hear about his death after some months but we took solace in the fact that we were able to comfort him in his last days.

From then on we began promoting the potty as “Bedside Toilet” for people who are bedridden due to sickness, disability and old age. We let people borrow the toilets for free, only to be returned when the patient recovers or,god-forbid, dies. On January 30 2017, we put it up on our Facebook Page and by mid day the remaining three sets were taken. We continued receiving calls in the following days, which opened out eyes to one of the gravest problems that is hidden in the corners of many homes.

We learned the desperation of the family members who had to deal with bedridden people at home, some for as long as ten years. They shared how dealing with toilet troubles causes all the awkwardness and resentment over a period of time, especially when daughter is the caregiver of a father, a son for mother. Besides the health hazards due to poor hygiene the most painful part is losing dignity and self respect as one become incapable of managing their own toilet routine, and people around show signs of disgust at you.

Our initiative was to empower them to manage their own toilet by taking toilet right next to their bed, so that even in the worst case at least it can be handled with little assistance from the caregiver. The toilet set has its own flush system and an airtight waste tank that can serve for a week without having to empty. It’s completely odourless one it’s flushed and the valve is closed.

Training Jojo Dorji how to use it

With assistance from some well-wishers, ShaMa Foundation, Pema Seldon and Dasho Sangay R Dorji, we brought five more units in the following months, but like the first batch they were taken almost immediately. We then started compiling list of requests we received. The numbers were overwhelming and we were helpless. So we submitted project proposals to few organisations, who unfortunately rejected it.

The Five Units supported by ShaMa Foundation Pema Seldon and Dasho Sangay R

Just when we thought we reached a dead end, we received a surprise gift of 10 units of bedside toilets from none other than His Majesty the King. I still wonder how His Majesty sensed our desperation though we haven’t indicated it anywhere. The royal support doubled our program capability overnight and we gladly called everyone on our list. Lives of ten families were bettered thus.

But the list only grew. We have 20 units in circulation that has served over 25 families already. And with growing awareness on the service, we are getting calls each day. Our waiting-list has over 30 people in age range of 23 to 103, and some families are checking in every day to ask if the new batch has come.

I have personally requested three businesses to import bedside toilets from Bangkok and make it available in their shops. I gave them the address in Bangkok. Because their are families who can afford and they want to buy, but it’s not available in Bhutan yet. This too is yet to happen.

With our project proposal reject we began writing to cooperate offices and individuals in Thimphu to sponsor but so far only few offices agreed to help. It’s sad that we receive request calls from very offices that have rejected our request to help. It’s a paradox. With growing numbers of calls from children of aged parents I can see that we are all going to need Bedside Toilet someday. It’s time we invest in it now, so that it’s there when we need it ourselves.

We owe it to OGZ for helping us in transporting the toilets from Bangkok from the beginning of the program and Mr. Kinley in Bhutan Embassy in Bangkok for helping us from there.

Now, we charge Nu.300 per month to ensure swift return of the toilets when they are not used anymore. Of course, we don’t charge that fee if the family can’t afford. 

Please call 3012 to donate to this cause, to inquire about this service or the product.  If you want to buy yourself from Bangkok, here is the link and number of Handy Toilet 0990593956

In partnership with ShaMa Foundation we are fundraising on GoFundMe. You can be a part of this by donating at least $5. 

Toilet for my Mother

My life is all about toilets now. It used to be about blogging once but it took me too far into being the change I was seeking that I could never really come back to full time blogging. If blogging and toilet were two friends I had, 'blogging' would be happy to know that I left him for 'toilet', which is what he wanted. On the contrary, 'toilet' is a jealous guy, he won't let me go back to blogging. He wants all my time and attention for himself.

Having been full time with toilet for more than two years; cleaning, managing, designing, building, lobbying, auditing, campaigning... leaving no shit unturned for the sake of the toilet, one day when Health Minister, Lyonpo Tandin offered Bhutan Toilet Org. to take up a part of project Health Ministry is doing with rural sanitation, I remembered my own village. It's like that carpenter not having a good home. Classic.

Of course, I personally laboured the construction of a modern toilet at home when I was in college and back then mine was among a very few homes in the village with flush toilet attached to the body of the house. But when I look at it now, with my mother aged beyond sixty and her son having become the toilet man, I wonder why I had built it on the ground floor.

Because when we venture into rural toilet project I want people to literally embrace toilet; bring it closer to them and not make it a shabby little room on the ground floor or worse take it far off beyond the kitchen garden. A toilet should be, something I always urge, so close to you that it's the easiest option so that even the oldest member of the family can use it anytime. Remember we too are going to be old someday. At the end, a toilet that is closer will always receive better attention and therefore remain cleaner.

But first I must have it myself in my own village home before I can even think of talking about it. It's about credibility and self-confidence; for people to have trust in my work, and more importantly for me to have trust in myself to take the leap without an ounce of guilt. After all these years I don't want to be another someone who preaches from a book for the sake of a project.

Therefore, this summer break all my siblings came together to gift our mother a toilet that is attached to the first-floor of the house and has all the modern features. Our earlier experience with the stone wall wasn't good; it gave us bulky and ugly walls, therefore, we decided to do the new toilet with bricks. My youngest brother, Tenzin Choda went ahead and started producing concrete bricks. By the time we reached he has produced a staggering 700 pieces. It was enough more than enough for a toilet, and two kitchen sinks.

Toilet for my mother

Our neighbours came around to watch us work and were impressed by the ease of working with bricks and beautiful finish we could achieve with it. I hope they will emulate our way of building a toilet and come up with sexy toilets for themselves.

Three brothers with helping hand from two village friends complete the toilet in five days along side two kitchen sink. Labour charge in my village is high but the two helpers worked over time to deserve the wage, probably motivated by our dedication. One motivation for them was to learn plumbing skill from me. Yes!

There were many new skills I acquired in Bhutan Toilet Org. and one among them is plumbing. The two guys had done many toilet works but they said they could never perfectly connect the sewer lines after putting the rubber washers. They would then seal the joints with a load of concrete plaster. Bad idea. It would leak very soon. I showed them the hack of lubricating the washer with soap to get the perfect joint and they were baffled.

Then, I took over the water connection using CPVC pipes, something I love doing. I gave water connection to the new toilet, the old toilet, kitchen on both floors with a system to control the water pressure (elsewhere it's about low pressure but in my village, the water pressure could blow up a brass bibcock.) When we released the water and it came splashing down into the kitchen sink I could see the joy on my mother's face. My plumbing was perfect; not a leak to be found.

The functional Interior. Final touches waiting for another holiday

The vacation was over from my brother Tenzin and I had to get back to the office but there was one last thing to do, to give our toilet a door. It was going to take one day more, so my brother Samtey stayed back to complete it. But as the Chablop it was my privilege to inaugurate the toilet and I did the honour without the door when no one was around.

I could see the pride in my mother's eyes when she showed our neighbours around the new toilet and I could hear remarks like, 'Pa, it's like a tourist hotel!' and my mother would modestly say, 'It's not quite done yet. They are going to put tiles and geyser later.'

God, it took me half my life to give this practical joy to my mother but now I am at peace. Now I am ready to work with Ministry of Health on the rural sanitation project, where I will use my own example to drive the change.

Toilet at Drakarpo

In April I visited Drakarpo to choose a loo-cation, I mean location for a toilet. So many people reported to Bhutan Toilet Org about the need for a toilet there and therefore I went there to understand the need to come up with an appropriate design. It was my first visit and I was mesmerised by the whole idea of the pilgrimage on the beautiful alpine hill. I decided to build the same toilet I had designed, in my head, for Chelela Pass.

In my last blog Drakarpo Kora in Paro, I tried to express my love-at-first-sight experience at Drakparo and it was widely read and shared. The article was picked up by a travel magazine as well. Among the many readers, a man from Haa paid special attention to the last one sentence I wrote about the toilet and dropped a short message enquiring about the cost of constructing the toilet. since I had the rough costing done already for Chelela Pass I wrote back to him.

The next thing he asked was our account number where he transferred Nu.50,345, which is exactly half the cost of the project. Because it was two unit toilet he wanted to sponsor one unit. If he had asked me to write a proposal it would have taken forever but he was a practical man. He wanted the toilet and not a proposal.

Putting the pieces of jigsaw together 

I didn't have to wait for the other half of the cost because I already had the solid commitment from my friend Kuenga Lhendup to support me with timber. It was from an old home he had demolished and therefore the most seasoned timber we could ever ask for. To make the design more authentic we needed wooden shingles but who would have thought we could get the old shingles from historic Gangtey Palace. Dasho Tobgye Sonam Dorji didn't even think twice before offering to give us 250 shingles. Now the key element to the design was 'bakal' (still didn't get the English name for it) that my friend Kezang Lhamo Dorji had stocked up for me. In fact, she took care of all the administrative matters that I didn't have the slightest clue about.

Five of us at Bhutan Toilet Org office spent exactly 12 days to bring everything together and convert the design on the paper into real toilet near our office. Looking at the final result people would wonder how in the world five people took twelve days for a small toilet like that but we must admit that we were a bunch of amateurs and therefore our 12 days were actually longer because we stayed up late into the nights and forfeited our weekends. We are improving though.

Besides, we had to hire single-cabin Bolero pickups over a dozen times to collect materials from all over and to finally deliver the toilet to Drakarpo. We have a page full of names and numbers of drivers that someday I am going to develop a mobile phone app out of the data.

BTO Finance Officer/ Zowpoen Dorji with Toilet Base

Last Wednesday when the toilet was completed, I took my wife on a date and visited Drakarpo to demarcate the spot for digging the trench with approval from the stakeholders there. Then we sent the GPRS of the spot to our Paro Ambassador and by Thursday evening his team had begun digging. Saturday morning, before we arrived they were done with 6 feet deep trench before and were waiting for us.

Paro Ambassador Druksel with the Toilet Base

There were twenty of us that day including two children. It was just enough people to complete the job in over four hours. It was a miracle that it didn't rain a bit on the day, otherwise, there was no way the pickup could climb the slippery road. From the road point it was only a few minutes walk down to the toilet site but with heavy pieces of materials to carry it was quite a task. In between, we lost a single piece of a baton and it was a challenge to complete the jigsaw without that piece.

By 5 pm we were looking at the toilet with admiration and taking selfies with it. It was as if the toilet has mushroomed out of the ground organically. And then we had our lunch and beer. By then everyone was like a bear.

Interior with Sawdust box

This toilet was our pet project; we have paid attention to every detail of the design- the natural exterior finish, traditional architectural elements like bho phana and door latches, decked potty and sawdust box inside with playboard finish... it's a prototype we thought of for all the pristine locations where water is a problem. The next place we want to make the home for this design is the Chelela Pass and if it impresses our Prime Minister then we want to have it across the national highway.

All of us minus the children who were having fun elsewhere! 

Out pet at the sunset!