Sitting across the table facing a couple of dignified Europeans, and thanking profusely for their planned project for the people of Bhutan - I was a little unnerved to be discussing something about which I was, well and truly, clueless! But a man has gotta do what he has gotta do - and this day I needed to sound positive and competent - not necessarily knowledgeable - to handle what was being planned and proposed. As the incumbent Club Secretary of the Rotary Club of Thimphu, my principal role was to discuss, finalize and implement all Club projects, on behalf of the Rotary Club of Thimphu.
Sitting at the restaurant of the Hotel Tashi Yoedling above the Memorial Chorten, it was July of 2019. Details were being discussed - on how best to frame the proposal for a US$99,000.00 Global Grant Project, to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) - for the establishment of a Cardiac Catheterization Lab Service (Cath Lab) at the JDWNRH, Thimphu.
At the opposite end of the table were the representatives of the principal donors and proponents from Germany and Denmark - Dr. Med Wolfang Pfeiffer, Bhutan’s Consul General in Germany, Dr. Christian Wolpert, Medical Director and Professor Sam Riahi, Chief Consultant, MD, Phd., FESC, both from Aalborg University Hospital, and Member of the Rotary Club of Nibe, Denmark. They were the ones with the deep pocket - I was the one with the knowhow and the skills to put flesh to the bones.
Five years later, yesterday the 18th of August 2023 - once again at the same hotel restaurant - I sat seeping Lemon-Honey tea - opposite the same persons - Dr. Wolfang and Professor Sam, with whom we started the journey of the project that finally culminated in the successful installation of the Cath Lab at the JDWNRH. The project that was conceived and set into motion five years ago was finally a reality - it was handed over to the JDWNRH authorities on 14th of August 2023. Although I am no more a part of the Club, the international partners to the project wanted to meet me and thank me for spearheading the project during its initial phase - five years back.
I presented to Dr. Wolfang and Dr. Sam a signed copy each of my book titled "BHUTAN BIRDS" - as my private and personal appreciation to the international project team members for their tireless work for the past five years that this project took to materialize.
In between exchanging pleasantries, Professor Sam proudly shows off to me a photograph where he and Dr. Pfeiffer are seen posing with His Majesty the King of Bhutan. He tells me, gleaming with pride, that His Majesty had granted them an audience!!
He did not need me to tell him what an extremely rare privilege and honor it was for him and Dr. Wolfang. He knew it! Even beyond that, I told him that it was an acknowledgement at the highest level - both for his Club and other partnering Rotary Clubs in Europe, as well as the Rotary Club of Thimphu. It is proof, if any were needed, that the project has been recognized at the highest level. There can be no better endorsement of the value of the project. All those connected with the project should derive a sense of pride and achievement.
The Royal Government of Bhutan, it appears, also sees value in the project. Yesterday, the Hon'ble Prime Minister seems to have suitably impressed the international team during a lunch to which they were invited - with his clarity of thought and purpose.
As for me, I am touched, and thankful, that I am remembered during this moment of success and achievement - that too by the international partners, NO LESS!
As was already agreed during our initial discussion in 2019, the Cath Lab project will continue with the Phase II of the planned three phases. The IInd Phase will focus on the soft component - strengthening the HR competence at the JDWNRH. With my very best wishes, I offered them my suggestions as to how to make the IInd Phase even more meaningful and enduring. As in the words of Dr. Wolfang - the main bole of the tree is now firmly entrenched into the ground - it must now be cared for and tended to, so that it can support a profuse of branches and leaves - to benefit the people of Bhutan for many generations to come.
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