Life is not always all about building an empire. At least not for some individuals who seem to have found their purpose in unwavering services to the community. A 60-year-old former civil servant in Monggar is among the few individuals who continues his journey of giving back to the community through timeless and priceless voluntary services even after retirement. In this story, our reporter Karma Wangdi finds out why and how.
Rinchen Tshering originally from Dagana served as a health assistant for about 32 years.
He currently lives with his family at Pangthang village in Gongdue Gewog of Monggar.
He retired from the civil service in 2021 but hasn’t stopped his public service yet.
Since his retirement, he has been tirelessly engaging in social service including whitewashing and renovating stupa and other community services.
Rinchen says he has renovated and installed sacred objects in 10 stupas and whitewashed more than 40 chortens so far.
The father of four along with his friend Sangay Drakpa is currently constructing a proper crematorium at Gobari in Gongdue Gewog for the benefit of nine villages in the gewog.
They are doing this spending money from their pockets. The duo spent more than Nu 200,000 to serve food and refreshments for those volunteering to help them.
Some civil servants from the villages also donated Nu 30,000 to serve food and refreshments to the volunteers.
According to Rinchen and his friend, the area has been used to cremate bodies for years. However, they added, it lacked basic amenities making it difficult to conduct cremation service during the monsoon.
“People used to conduct funerals here, but without a shed, it was difficult for all of us during the monsoon. The fire gets put off by the rain as it is in the open space. Therefore, we initiated the construction of the temporary shed.”
They will also be constructing a toilet, a kitchen, and a temporary shed to conduct rituals during funerals. Their initiative has come as delightful news to the villagers.
“During the rainy season, we face difficulty in conducting funerals as there is no roof and sheds. Currently, it is under construction and we are happy that the former Health Assistant coordinates the work to construct basic facilities at the cremation site,” said Tenzin Dorji, a resident.
This isn’t Rinchen’s first voluntary service and is definitely not the last. He also carried out the widening and maintenance of the route along the Domong religious site and constructed a toilet and resting place along the route.
He had installed a wooden bathtub at Pinmagang Maenchu in Damkhar-Weringla Chiwog that can accommodate about four people.
The hot stone bath is believed to cure headaches and joint pains among other diseases. However, not many people could reap the healing benefits of the Maenchhu as it lacked a bathtub.
He plans to construct a toilet and a dressing room at the site if the number of visitors increases in the future.
Besides, he is a nature lover too. Rinchen tried reviving the Weringla and Damkhar lake by planting trees.
“The lake has been there for a long time and I saw it drying when I reached here. After my arrival here, I planted trees around the lake and cleared the debris. However, due to the lack of fencing wild animals destroyed the planted trees. The gewog had agreed to support us and we are ready to work voluntarily.”
He is doing it all without expecting anything in return. Rinchen has rather spent about a million ngultrum to carry out voluntary services in the community.
And he plans to remain steadfast in his pursuit of giving back to the community as long as he can.
Karma Wangdi, Monggar
Edited by Phub Gyem
