Nepalese self-published author Tim Gurung
Nepalese author Tim Gurung explains why he only writes to raise money for for his charity ISSLCARE, which provides education for poor children in his native country.
Although I was born and raised in Nepal, all of my adult life has been spent in Hong Kong, and it is my only home. I came to Hong Kong in 1980 as a 17 years old Gurkha soldier, served the British crown for the next 13 years, returned to Hong Kong after I found a job in an international company, and never left. For the next two decades, I worked really hard while raising my young family and establishing my new business, and prepared myself and my family for the later half of my life.
Tim Gurung's charity in Nepal
Aiming for Something Special
Shree Nispaksha Secondary School, Nepal
As I have been working really hard from the tender age of seventeen, I always wanted to do something special in life after I reached fifty, and it had to be not only meaningful but also must come directly from my heart. And I had no desire whatsoever of working for money again for the later half of my life.
Although I had spent my whole adult life in Hong Kong, I have never forgotten about my roots, and Nepal has always been at the bottom of my heart. More often than not, I used to dream about doing something about my people, giving back to the society and helping the poor ones as much as I could. Nepal is still one of the poorest nations in the world, life is still very harsh, and little things can make a big difference in people’s lives there. If one day I can find myself at the position to do something and contribute back to the society, I would definitely choose that path and fulfill my wishes all at the same time.
Why I Love Writing
Writing has always been in my blood, it comes easily and it provides not only the warmness to my heart but also solace to my soul. I used to write when I was young, but I stopped writing completely as I got busy with dealing with the travails of life, and rekindled it again when I needed the most. Writing is nothing less than a blessing for me from the almighty one above there, had it not been used for some good causes, it would have been a waste and that would be a disrespect to the almighty. It was the main reason why I decided to use my writing for the good cause of helping the others, what could be the better option than this noble cause, and I simply couldn’t ask for more.
Adding Meaning to my Life
Prithivi Narayan School
God willing, I have reached at certain position of my life that I don’t have to work for money, my writing doesn’t have to provide for my family and I can fulfill my dream of working for something meaningful in the later half of my life. And that is precisely what I am doing now, trying to help the needy ones while living my dream and eventually trying to make my life more meaningful.
Although I started writing again in 2009, my books were only published in 2015, and I have six in the collection with two more coming soon. ISSLCARE is our charity foundation, registered in Hong Kong, and it helps provide finance to poor families in Nepal so they can send their children to school. The campaign has already started from Pokhara, my hometown. We are sponsoring now twenty-five children through eight schools, and as we grow, we will expand our program throughout the nation so one day, it can cover the whole nation.
Long-Term Ambitions
One of Tim Gurung's books self-published in aid of his charity
It might take five, ten years or even a lifetime, but it is a lifetime commitment, and that is precisely what I have signed for. As of that, it will be my ultimate goal/responsibility to complete that mission, help as many children as I can, and fulfill my dream of having a meaningful life. Since I don’t believe in raising funds and accepting donations, the only way to help support my charity is reading my books, and I am pretty confident and determined that it will prevail at the end. I can understand peoples’ skepticism and I don’t blame them, but this is the true reason why I only write for my charity and I am enjoying my life.
OVER TO YOU
- If you have any experience of self-publishing for charity, please feel free to share your story via our comments box.
- If you'd like to ask Tim Gurung any questions about his books or the charity, please do.
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By coincidence, I recently gave proceeds from sales of my historical fiction, Stolen, to help a Nepalese family rebuild their home after the earthquake. However, I did not make many sales, and it made sad that even selling books for a good cause can be difficult. I have also given proceeds of some of my other books, The Girl in the Box and Trial by Fire, to various charities. Although sales are small, it is satisfying to be both doing something I love, and helping others.
Hi Sheila,
Thank you, glad to hear that you did help and I genuinely believe that it is the gesture that matters the most. People are skeptical about this practice, perhaps because of there are too many stories about fake and cheating charity organizations, and i don’t entirely blame them. In fact there are no shortages of such NGOs out there, big and powerful charities have become nowadays nothing more than a showoff for its high-heeled and egotistical bosses, and the money hardly reach to the needy ones. I won’t be lying here if I say, probably not even 10% of the total donations for Nepal’s earthquake victims were actually distributed to the needy ones, and that speaks for all. Sadly, our world lives in frivolity, people put more value on superficial things and we always tend to ignore the genuine problems. Name sells here, being a new and self-published writer is hard and even we do it for good cause, people still look at us with a cynical view. Please keep doing the thing that you like, we just do our utmost and hope for the best! Take care!
Hi Tim
I found your article really interesting. Outside my day job I’m on the board of a medical charity called the World Medical Fund (WMF) and use my writing skills to help them with their media and marketing/PR activities. WMF’s focus is on the Africa’s poorest and most vulnerable children, including AIDS orphans. Most of its work is in Malawi, where its programmes are treating more than 25,000 sick children every year. As I also write children’s books, we recently had the idea of using that interest to develop a story set in Malawi. We hope it will entertain the local children cared for by WMF and also support our other activities.
Good luck with ISSLCARE’s great work.
Faiz
Hi Faiz,
Glad to hear from the similar minded people, I am really happy that you are doing all this, and thank you so much again for the kind words. The world is already full of people who only care about themselves but no one, that is one of the reason why we have so many conflicts, social and global issues, and afflictions all around the world. We are all selfish, humans are the most selfish one by nature, and I am no exception. I have no intention of becoming great or whatever we call it, I am doing it as I strongly think that it is the best for me, and most of them all, it makes me happy. I have really worked hard in life, I have both experiences of having and not having and I think the best way to be happy in life is to have a very simple life. End of the day, we just need 2 meals a day, one bed to sleep and a pair of clothes to wear. I wish you all the best and take care!