 Since the 1950s, thousands of South Asian leaders have seized the opportunity to further their knowledge at Australian universities through prestigious Australia Awards scholarships. Their new knowledge and skills are improving countless lives in their home countries. Fresh, simple milk. Imagine being unable to buy it at your local shops. Until recently, that was the reality for consumers across the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. There was no shortage of potential suppliers though, as farmers everywhere like Gembo Dorgi had milk and cows. I cultivated rice, chilli and vegetables as well as having local cattle. I collected milk and made butter and cheese. In the past, Gembo says, his family was totally reliant on the success of their annual crop. When crops failed though, homemade dairy products became a tenuous lifeline. When we needed cash, I would take it to the roadside and try to sell it to passers-by. Now, Gembo makes the trip to the roadside every day. He is among the hundreds of farmers organised into small local cooperatives, as part of a government effort to create a viable dairy sector in Bhutan. There wasn't really a central area where you could get dairy products on a regular basis. We have the weekend market on Saturday and Sunday, so that place was the only place. And the weekend was the only time where you could get your dairy products. You just had individual farmers who took their own production into the market and they sold it to the retailers at their own individual level. What we intended to do was to formalise the dairy sector. And we were able to do that by having a central location for these farmers to bring their milk. Pasunto is one of many Bhutanese to have won a prestigious Australia Awards scholarship. Completing his studies in dairy foods at the University of Melbourne positioned him to lead the government's dairy project. The technical knowledge which I gained in Australia has been very beneficial. I have been able to teach the farmers various aspects of dairy production starting from the farm level where we teach them and encourage them to produce milk in a hygienic manner as well as at the collection centres where we teach them how to test the milk for quality and also in terms of product diversification we've been able to transfer production technology to different private entrepreneurs and also to dairy farmers groups. Gimbo's co-operative of eight farmers have used this technology to start production of the increasingly popular Rama farm fresh yoghurt. They now employ four young people from the village including Tashi who has a vision for his future. Compared to the past it has made a real difference in my life. Now I own a good celery and in the future I want to open a dairy of my own. Working as a group means that we all get more money and we get it month like a salary. This means we can now save money unlike in the past. With this steady flow of income, Gimbo has been able to educate some of his children abroad and they have gone on to become teachers and the youngest was recently elected to parliament. We have many farmers who deal with livestock and dairy cattle in particular. As of now we are largely dependent on imports from India for bulk of our dairy products so hopefully in the next five to ten years we'll be able to change that and achieve a certain degree of self-sufficiency in dairy products. Being able to utilise the knowledge I had gained in Australia and being able to help these farmers achieve and enhance or increase the income is very rewarding. Since the 1960s numerous Bhutanese industries have benefitted from the Australia awards enabling many people to improve their lives. In the city traders brisk for the new dairy shops that are now open for business and creating even more jobs.