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A Community like No other

‘If Community literally means all about the bond, cohesion and friendship among the people living in it, Lobneykha Community is undeniably an exemplary one. It is more than a conventional community, a community with so much social cohesion and closely knitted people.

Lobneykha community under Chapcha Geog in Chukha Dzongkhag is very much renowned in the country for the strong union within the community members. The people in the community share a common believe that they belong to ‘Lobneykha set’ and they do anything but for the interest of the village. The clustered houses built attached to each other are the unspoken symbol of their attachment to each other.

The village rests on the lap of a mountain facing the Wangchu River. The community composes of 81 households and grows mainly potatoes, Chillies and beans to sustain themselves. The community is fed by 4.7kms community road which connects to the Thimphu – Phuntsholing national highway.

The incredible part that makes the community like no other community in Bhutan is that the people in the community value the respect of equality, oneness and making available each other during the time of sickness, problem encounter and in needy hours. They share so much understanding on the ‘rule of one’ in the village that if they develop, all must equally reap the benefit.

The 4.7 kms community road which benefits them immensely is constructed way back in 80s with all the efforts shared among the community members. They had very limited supports from other government and organizations. This speaks in itself about the strong sense of community belonging they share.

Lobneykha community is also the first and ever community in Chukha Dzongkhag to come forth with proposal to establish the community forest, which demands for lots of time and willingness to do so from the beneficiaries. With unwavering interest from the community, establishing one was not a problem at all.

The fact here also depicts enough about how much cooperative they are. It is said that the people in Lobneykha do not have to own bulls for draught power. Whenever it is time to plough their field, anyone can catch hold of any bull to serve the purpose. During the annual Puja, every household must present. Unless, the absentees have a genuine reason, he/she is fined Nu. 100/- per day. If the person in community becomes a social nuisance by involving in drudgery and does anything unacceptable by other, he/she is given no place to stay in Lobneykha. The community is governed by the set of unframed law, which is always safe with the people and every people are expected to strictly adhere the unwritten rule. Beside these, there are many other community benefiting initiatives, which I could not record here.

The government and the other agencies can always take advantage of such community in carrying out the activities demanding for intense support from people. The community has many other potential that can without any doubt benefit themselves. We can rarely find such community and when we find one, we can never be complacent.

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