Profile: Unlike most university graduates who flock to the towns to look for jobs, Asha Subba left her job in a private firm to become a village health worker in Tsirang.

Many in the community look up to the 2012 Sherubtse graduate who majored in Economics with Environmental Science as an example of how youth can serve the country differently.

A villager from Kapashing, Nim, 38, said many youth opt to look for white –collar jobs but never think of staying in the farms.

He said only elderly parents are left in the villages and as a result, fields are left fallow.

“Asha’s decision to come and stay in the village shows that youth can contribute to the society by staying in the village,” Nim said. “She has become a role model for youth here.”

Asha’s decision to become a village health worker is not planned.

She said she stayed with her parents in Thimphu, as her father is a civil servant. “My mother and I came here to construct a house and I decided to stay back in the village,” she said.

She said she decided to become a village health worker to help villagers by advocating the importance of visiting hospitals and maintaining hygeine.

Asha attended a training for the village health worker’s recently and they were asked to submit a report to the health ministry so that she could prescribe medicine to minor illness.

She said although an unpaid job, she is satisfied with her work, as people benefit from her service.

As of now, besides volunteering, she helps in her house by cooking and working as a helper.

Yeshey Dema | Tsirang