For Lhamo, 85, the memory is still vivid.
On December 17, 2024, during Bhutan’s 116th National Day celebrations, His Majesty the King unveiled the vision of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC). For many, it was a moment of national significance. For Lhamo, it became something deeply personal and in many ways a turning point in how she saw her place in the final chapter of her life.
Since that day, she has followed every update she can about the GMC, piecing together the story of a project that promises to redefine Bhutan’s future. She does not claim to understand all its complexities. But her conviction is unwavering.
“I may not understand everything about the project,” she says, “but I know it will benefit the future of Bhutan.”
Alongside that certainty is a quiet unease, a feeling of distance she cannot ignore.
“I have not been able to contribute anything. Not as a volunteer, not in any way. All I have been able to do is pray.”
For many elderly Bhutanese, GMC has inspired both pride and a sense of helplessness. They have watched the vision take shape, while feeling physically unable to take part in its making.
That distance, however, is beginning to close.
A global crowdfunding initiative launched by the De-suung Headquarters to support the construction of 108 Jangchub Chortens within GMC is offering something simple, but deeply rofound: a way to belong.
For Lhamo, it feels like a door has finally opened.
“I am happy,” she says. “Now I can go beyond my prayers. I can contribute something, no matter how small.”
She is not alone in that feeling.
Across the country, elderly citizens – many of whom once helped build Bhutan’s earliest roads and public infrastructure – now find themselves witnessing a national transformation that feels just beyond their reach. GMC, in its scale and ambition, represents a future they may not physically help construct, but deeply wish to be part of.
Pem Tshering, 87, understands that feeling all too well.
A retired worker living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and arthritis, he speaks of GMC with both pride and longing.
“I wish I were younger,” he says. “In my time, I helped build roads and infrastructure. But the Gelephu project … this is something far greater. It is difficult to even explain.”
What has moved him most is the image of His Majesty working on the ground at the project site.
“I have shed tears watching His Majesty pick up the spade,” he says. “I pray for His Majesty and for the project every day. But I also feel limited.”
That limitation – between intention and ability – is what weighs on him.
“I want to be there in Gelephu. I want to do something,” he says. “Our King is doing something extraordinary for the country. Building 108 Chortens in a single day – it is unimaginable. And I am here, unable to do anything.”
For both Lhamo and Pem, GMC is not just an infrastructure project. It is a national journey, one that weaves together spiritual purpose, cultural identity, and collective aspiration.
Until recently, their role in that journey felt confined to observation and prayer.
The crowdfunding initiative has changed that. They are able to go beyond their prayers.
For the elderly, especially, it has become a bridge, connecting generations, circumstances, and capacities.
For Lhamo, the meaning is deeply personal.
“I can now die peacefully,” she says. “Because I can contribute something to my King’s vision.”
Her words are not about an ending, but about fulfillment. In being able to give – even in a small way – she feels she has reclaimed her place in a national story that once seemed out of reach.
As Lhamo and Pem express in their own words, what matters most is not the size of their contribution, but the fact that they can finally say: “We were part of it.”
On February 21, 2026, His Majesty announced the initiative to build the 108 Jangchub Chortens within GMC, with the extraordinary goal of completing construction in a single day.
The De-suung Headquarters recently launched a fundraising campaign to enable public participation in this unprecedented national project.
Ugyen Tenzin, Thimphu
