Rising to the challenges thrown at them by the COVID-19 pandemic, around 30 youths in Paro started working in a private house construction site. They earn about Nu 15,000 to Nu 20,000 in a month.
Prior to the pandemic, they were working in hotels and entertainment centres. Some of them were temporarily relieved from their jobs and some are left with no salary.
Kinley Wangdi, a helper in Kitchen with one of the tourist-based hotel in Paro, is one of the youths troubled by the COVID-19 pandemic. He had neither income nor work for over two months. Alongside his 29 other counterparts, he is sweating to earn both cash and skills from the construction site.
“In the beginning, it was tough. We are newly exposed to labour works. Our society considers such blue colour jobs very low and considers cheap, but I have learned it is not like how we see. I am happy and comfortable as I make good money from working here. I am paid over Nu 15,000. I get lunch, morning tea and evening tea from the site,” he said.
Like Kinley, other youths affected by the crisis echoed the contentment of working in construction sites.
Kelzang Dema, an employee with an entertainment centre, says the wage she gets from the work helps sustain amid the crisis. “Moreover, we are also able to send some amount to our parents back in the village. These days for people like us it is hard to find a decent job. In the beginning, it is hard but now after working here for two months, it is fun. I get to learn new skills as well,” she added.
The opportunity presented by the pandemic is also seized by some students with schools across the country closed for students except for classes X, XII and final year students. One such student is Hemanta Devi Darjee who studies in one of the schools in Paro.
“I use to get tired in the beginning. It’s getting easier as I am getting more used to it. From the income that I make from here can help my family. For my studies, I learn through google classroom in the evening and my elder sister also help me when I have trouble understanding,” she added.
Meanwhile, their services have benefited the employer, Kencho Thering, from Gebtoed under Wangchang Gewog in Paro. He says the cost implication for importing foreign labourers is costlier by the day. “I have readied all the raw materials and was prepared to start the construction works. But the labour was my biggest concern after the government imposed a ban on bringing in foreign labour. The foreign labour was going to take time so I had to do with available force here. In the beginning, they had a tough time catching up so I put a skilled man with them to teach them or skill them. They are now all capable and sincere as they are all from a humble background,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Druk Gyalpo’s Relief Kidu has come as a blessing for such youth who are directly affected by the COVID- 19.
Namgay Wangchuk
