{"id":1452,"date":"2013-11-18T13:53:44","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T08:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/?page_id=1452"},"modified":"2026-03-13T21:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:57:23","slug":"crowdrise-holiday-challenge-teach-a-man-to-fish","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/fundraising\/crowdrise-holiday-challenge-teach-a-man-to-fish\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowdrise Holiday Challenge:&#8230;Teach a Man to Fish&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Establishing a Social Business for Education project to provide sustainable free, quality education in rural Nepal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming from a low socioeconomic background in Nepal, even as a primary school student in Kathmandu,&nbsp;<a title=\"Education in Nepal: How I got in and Out of it\" href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/education-in-nepal-how-i-in-and-got-out-of-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">I &nbsp;dreamt<\/a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<strong>making a difference, through education, both to myself and to others in Nepal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"325\" height=\"716\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/what-your-contribution-will-pay-for.png\" alt=\"what your contribution will pay for\" class=\"wp-image-1420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/what-your-contribution-will-pay-for.png 325w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/what-your-contribution-will-pay-for-136x300.png 136w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After over two decades abroad, I had finally decided to <a title=\"About Me\" href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/about-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">return home<\/a>&nbsp;to work towards fulfilling the second part of&nbsp;my dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, following an unfortunate incident not only was I fired from my job at the school, I was also&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/worldviews\/wp\/2013\/05\/09\/qatar-jails-a-nepali-teacher-on-charges-of-insulting-islam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jailed<\/a> for allegedly insulting Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily, my friends around the world launched a&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/dohanews.co\/international-community-rallys-around-nepalese-teacher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">massive campaign<\/a>, and after only four days of initiating it, I was&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/worldviews\/wp\/2013\/05\/13\/teacher-jailed-in-qatar-is-freed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">freed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During my time in Qatar, I came to see, hear and read about the&nbsp;<a title=\"Revealed Qatar&#039;s World Cup Slaves\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/sep\/25\/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exploitation<\/a>, <a title=\"At 16, Ganesh got a job in Qatar. Two months later he was dead\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2013\/sep\/25\/qatar-nepalese-workers-poverty-camps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abuse<\/a> and&nbsp;<a title=\"Qatar: one migrant worker&#039;s story\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2013\/oct\/02\/qatar-migrant-worker-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sufferings<\/a> of hundreds of thousands of Nepalese (and other Asian) migrant labourers in Qatar. I met a number of them&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/qatar-from-afar-riyality-check\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">languishing in jail<\/a>&nbsp;as well. I discovered that their&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>lack of education<\/strong> is the main reason for their suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They came from low socio-economic background, just like myself. But unlike me, their poverty and lack of opportunities for education and work opportunities have driven them to Qatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Returning to Nepal on May 13,&nbsp;having decided&nbsp;to make a difference in the lives of others through education long before the ordeal, the first thing I did was raise <a title=\"EdufreeNepal Campaign: Final Update\" href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/edufreenepal-campaign-final-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">over thirty thousand dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the campaign, my friend <a title=\"COMMITTED Team Members\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cminepal.org\/members.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jayjeev<\/a> and I have been running&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cminepal.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">COMMITTED<\/a>, an NGO dedicated to implementing holistic development works through education-related projects, project that improve infrastructure, resources and quality of education at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/june-5-7-sindhupalchok-visit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Raithane School in Thangpalkot village<\/a>, Sindupalchowk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make sure that the education program is sustainable, COMMITTED&nbsp;has initiated&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/project-update-fishery-as-an-sbe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Business for Education <\/a>&nbsp;project:&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/project-update-teach-a-man-to-fish\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fishery<\/a>, with funds (totalling about US$20,000) raised through other means. But, we need an additional <strong>US$45,000<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once fully set up, a significant part of the profits from the business will cover all the expenses of the school. The remaining profits will be used for community development projects as per the Community Development Plan (CDP) the community will be devising with help from COMMITTED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the mean time, additional funds are required for <a title=\"Project Update: SIP\" href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/project-update-sip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resources<\/a>, teacher training, infrastructure upgrades and other expenses, funds we were not able to raise in June&#8217;s campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An additional&nbsp;<strong>US$15,000<\/strong>&nbsp;is required&nbsp;to upgrade the school library and provide library management skills training to the school staff, to provide enhanced support for Science, English and Arts curriculum. A further&nbsp;<strong>US$28000<\/strong>&nbsp;to complete&nbsp;the new school building, to upgrade the&nbsp;classrooms,&nbsp;to set-up rainwater harvesting system and to address&nbsp;WASH (Water Sanitation and Health) issues.&nbsp;And finally, not unlike all other government schools in Nepal, Raithane&nbsp;struggles to pay <a title=\"Dorje&#039;s Dooing: Sponsorship\" href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/category\/projects\/sponsorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">teachers&#8217; salaries<\/a>. In order to pay a decent wage&nbsp;to four school-employed teachers&nbsp;for the next two years an additional&nbsp;<strong>US$12000<\/strong>&nbsp;is necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/fundraising\/crowdrise-holiday-challenge-how-to-join-the-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"197\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/join-our-team-image.png\" alt=\"join our team image\" class=\"wp-image-1435\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COMMITTED therefore is aiming to raise a total of&nbsp;<strong>US$100,000<\/strong>&nbsp;to provide free, quality and sustainable education to the children of Raithane School in Thangpalkot, Sindhupalchok, Nepal. These funds will support the education of 350+ students attending Raithane School in Thangpalkot VDC, a community with a population of over 3000&#8211;education that will give them the freedom to dream and chart their own destinies, just as it did for me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are looking for interested individuals to help us raise these funds by being a team member in this campaign. If you are interested, <a title=\"Crowdrise Holiday Challenge: How to Join the Team\" href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/blog\/fundraising\/crowdrise-holiday-challenge-how-to-join-the-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a>&nbsp;or on the image to the right for instructions on how to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This fundraising drive runs from November 18, 2013 through January 9, 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"crowdriseStaticLink-fundraiser-123517\" title=\"Fundraising Websites on Crowdrise\" href=\"http:\/\/www.crowdrise.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fundraising Websites &#8211; Crowdrise<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Establishing a Social Business for Education project to provide sustainable free, quality education in rural Nepal. Coming from a low socioeconomic background in Nepal, even as a primary school student in Kathmandu,&nbsp;I &nbsp;dreamt&nbsp;of&nbsp;making a difference, through education, both to myself and to others in Nepal. After over two decades abroad, I had finally decided to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1361,"parent":1046,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1452","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2Jbro-nq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29661,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1452\/revisions\/29661"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}