Bright Smiles!

Hi there! Joe Crow here. How are you?

I've been keeping very busy lately, the rains are slowly stopping and I've been out looking for as many small frogs as I can eat! There are lots of them around at the moment. There are also lots of tasty, sugary fruits on the trees too. The human children here love to pick and snack on them.

But did you know that sugar – yes, even the natural sugar that is in fruit – can be very bad for your teeth? If you eat too many sugary things or keep them in your mouth too long, the sugar can make holes in your teeth. These holes, also called cavities, can be very painful. Here in Samey, the children are no different from children all over the world. They love sweets and chocolates! There's nothing wrong with that of course, but it can cause those problems if you don't look after your teeth properly.

Unfortunately, when a dentist came to visit our school, he found that many of the children do have problems with their teeth. There were some cavities, and many children had to have teeth removed because they had become rotten. This made me feel very sad for the children. It is especially sad if this happens to your 'big teeth', the new ones that come when wobbly teeth fall out. These big teeth are permanent, which means you will have them forever. If you have one taken out, you'll never grow another one back.

Crows don't have teeth, but I'm always careful to keep my beak clean and shiny! It should be the same for all children with their teeth. You need to brush your teeth with toothpaste twice a day, and make sure you brush each tooth! Sadly for some of the children at Samey Primary School they have difficulty being able to get toothbrushes and toothpaste. Also, some of them have not had much experience learning about how to look after their teeth.

But thanks to my good friends at Pashley Down Infant School in England, we have a new project called Bright Smiles! Every child at Samey now has their very own toothbrush! Also, the school has lots and lots of toothpaste as well as many replacement brushes for when the children need to change. The kind children and parents from Pashley donated toothbrushes which were sent in the post all the way to Bhutan, as well as some money to buy toothpaste. My teacher friend, Mr. MacInnes is making sure that all the children learn how to brush properly and take care of their teeth. He invited a dentist to come and give a special workshop to the children and to show them the best way to brush.

Each child keeps their toothbrush in the school and brushes their teeth at least once during the school day. Hopefully they will continue to have bright smiles for a long time into the future!

They look really happy with their brushes, don't they?

Speak to you soon, and remember to keep your teeth clean and bright!
Joe :)

 

Summer in Bhutan

Summer in Samey... It's always pretty foggy!

Hi friends (both the feathered and not-so feathered ones)!

 

I'm sorry I haven't written in such a long time. It's been very difficult for me to fly anywhere lately, and I've been having a tough time getting on to the internet. Let me explain why! 
 

Summer arrived in Bhutan, the Kingdom Of The Thunder Dragon, in June. Normally I love summer! All my birdie friends are out and about, singing in the trees and having fun in the sun. I bet you like it too! No school to go to... Sunshine... Ice-creams... Beaches... Well, in Bhutan it's a little bit different!

 

For starters, children in Bhutan still come to school in July and August. There is a two-week break at the start of July but that is it. At least I got to spend more time in the classroom learning about Bhutan. In Class 3 we've even been reading a book called Some Birds of Bhutan! Not much about crows in there though... 

Secondly, and worst of all, summer in Bhutan is really the monsoon season. The 'monsoon' basically means the rainy season. Yep, it rains a lot in Bhutan during the summer. Even more than in England! The rain is extremely heavy at times too. Some of the children have to walk for a long time in the rain to get to school. Some days they turn up for their morning study soaking wet, with no dry clothes to change into. I feel very sorry for them on those days. I hate having wet feathers.

The rain causes more problems than just wet clothes though. Because the rains can be so heavy, or last for days at a time, they cause landslides as well. A landslide is when lots and lots of soil or rocks slide down the side of mountain or cliff. The rain makes the soil loose and heavy, causing it to slide down. This can be very dangerous and people can be killed by the falling rocks and mud. Luckily I haven't heard of any injuries in this part of Bhutan this year. However, Mr MacInnes has been stuck on the road a couple of times because it was blocked by big rocks! 

On the right are some photos of the children of Samey Primary School helping to repair our road after the rain washed away lots of soil. There were big holes so no cars could get up!

So that's why I haven't been flying about and able to write my blog posts lately. Also, there's quite a lot of mosquitoes out there in the rain... I'm not a big fan of those little biters!

Don't worry though. Bhutan is very different from October - March, and there is hardly any rain at all. Then the land and the grass get very dry and there is a lot of sunshine. If you ever want to come to Bhutan, September and October are the best months, then February - April time. Then you'll avoid the wet summer season, and the veeeeery cold winter season!

Have a look at the photos below comparing the dry and wet seasons.

Paro in the winter...

Paro in the summer!

See you next time,

Joe :)