Karma Kelvin Centre · Bhutan
Service begins with showing up.
Karma Kelvin Centre and Karma Kelvin & Team bring volunteers, donors and communities together to support vulnerable people across Bhutan — through direct care, essential assistance and compassion in action.
“We are here to serve, not to be served.”
Why we show up
Service does not always begin with a programme. Sometimes it begins with a person.
A family may need food and essential supplies. An elderly person may need someone willing to visit. A patient may need equipment their family cannot afford. A person living with disability may need care that continues long after the first conversation.
Karma Kelvin & Team responds to circumstances as they are. The work begins by understanding what someone needs, finding people who are willing to help, and turning that willingness into practical support.
Help should feel human.
Behind every request is a person, a family and a circumstance that cannot always be reduced to a category. That is why the work remains personal, flexible and rooted in direct connection.
Our approach
Help, where it is needed.
Sometimes help means food for a family. Sometimes it means medical equipment. Sometimes it means travelling to a remote community. And sometimes it simply means making sure someone does not face a difficult moment alone.
Our work begins by listening, showing up, and connecting people who need support with people willing to give it. It responds to real people and real circumstances, not a fixed set of programmes.
Practical support
Different needs. Different forms of help.
Community service rarely looks the same twice. Depending on the circumstances, support mobilised through Karma Kelvin & Team has taken many practical forms.
Essential supplies
Food, clothing, hygiene products and everyday necessities for people and families facing hardship.
Medical support
Helping connect patients and families with donated medical equipment and other resources.
Care and accommodation
Providing sustained assistance when a person needs more than one-time material support.
Support for older people
Responding to elderly people who may need necessities, care or simply someone willing to show up.
Disability support
Standing alongside people living with disabilities and helping create greater care, dignity and inclusion.
Community outreach
Travelling, meeting people directly and extending support beyond Bhutan's urban centres.
Resource mobilisation
Connecting people who want to contribute with individuals and communities where that support can be useful.
Where we help
Areas of service
Support takes different forms depending on what a person or family actually needs.
Care & Disability Support
Supporting persons with disabilities through direct care, practical assistance and inclusion in community life.
Families in Need
Mobilising essential supplies and direct assistance for families facing hardship.
Health & Medical Support
Helping connect patients with donated medical equipment and other support when it is needed most.
Elderly Care
Standing alongside elderly people who need care, daily necessities or simply community.
Youth & Remote Communities
Reaching children, youth and communities beyond Bhutan's urban centres.
Addiction & Recovery Support
Offering compassionate, non-judgemental support to people facing addiction and difficult circumstances.
How it works
How a community responds.
A need is heard
Someone reaches out, a story is shared, or the team encounters an individual or family who may need support.
The situation is understood
Before deciding what to provide, the immediate circumstances and practical needs are considered.
People come together
Supporters, donors, volunteers and communities are connected around a specific need.
Help reaches the person
Resources, equipment, care or direct assistance are taken where they are needed.
The connection continues
When circumstances require it, support does not necessarily end with a single visit.
Documented impact
During a shortage of oxygen concentrators, Karma Kelvin and his team supplied donated units to more than 40 patients — one of the clearest examples of donor support reaching people directly.
A centre for hope
A place to belong.
BBS has documented Karma Kelvin Centre providing ongoing care and accommodation for two girls with disabilities, from Dagana and Samtse — describing it as a “Centre for Hope.”
Centre volunteers helped both girls take part in Bhutan’s National Day celebrations at Changlimithang — a small gesture that meant being included, not left outside.
Beyond one place
Based in Thimphu. Connected across Bhutan.
Karma Kelvin Centre is based in Thimphu, but the work has never been limited to the capital. Documented stories connect the initiative with people from Dagana, Samtse, Trashigang and other communities around the country.
Thimphu
Dagana
Samtse
Trashigang
Social media makes distance smaller. A story from outside the capital can reach thousands of people, connect with someone willing to help, and become action on the ground.
Stories from the community →Founder
A life shaped by service.
Karma Kelvin Dorji’s path to community service grew out of direct encounters with vulnerable Bhutanese people, and the connections he built through social media. His approach stayed simple throughout: meet people, understand their circumstances, and bring others in to help.
Meet Karma Kelvin →
National recognition
National Order of Merit — Bronze
118th National Day · 17 December 2025
Awarded by His Majesty The King during Bhutan's 118th National Day, in recognition of Karma Kelvin Dorji's service through volunteerism and support for vulnerable communities.
Read the coverage
There is always something we can do.
Whether through volunteering, contributing resources, sharing a story, or simply showing up for someone who needs support — service begins with one decision.
Stay close to the work
A digital community built for real-world help.
Facebook and TikTok have become much more than places to publish updates. They help surface needs, connect donors with cases, bring volunteers together and allow people throughout Bhutan to follow the work as it happens.
The screen is only where the connection begins.
Facebook
Karma Kelvin & Team
TikTok
@karmakelvin5