My name is Dilasha Jamkatel. I am a 20 year old Nepali citizen currently living in Canada as a Permanent Resident. My family immigrated when I was 13 years old and most of my formative years have been spent in Canada. However, I am a true Nepali at heart and my love for my country never faded, no matter the distance I sometimes put from it. Here are some details about my NGO and my project.
Currently a third year student studying Psychology at the University of Alberta, I have aspirations to enter medical school and become a doctor. In pursuit of this goal, I became heavily involved with volunteering and social work in the past few years. As an extension of my passion towards charity and philanthropy, I also started my own non-governmental organization, called the With All My Heart Philanthropic Foundation.
I am this NGO’s founder and president. This registered NGO works in Edmonton, AB, Canada with the local homeless community doing minor food distribution projects and addressing poverty and mental health issues. However, no matter the projects and recognition I gained with my projects in Canada, there was always a part of me that was dissatisfied with the direction I was headed because there was no plausible way with which I could lead projects in Nepal – the place and people that are closest to my heart – no funds to be accessed, no grants to be applied for.
They would not support me leading an international project. So I decided to lead one independently. It was not easy, coming from a middle class immigrant family in a foreign country to set aside enough expenses to lead charity projects in the other side of the world. However, my passion to help my country’s people was such that it could not be denied. Therefore, over the course of lockdown, I picked up extra shifts at my part time job and started saving up for this project.
I contacted a Nepal registered NGO called the Freedom Social Foundation and they helped me coordinate the logistics to lead a food distribution project in two ‘low-caste’, poverty-stricken, rural villages in Pokhara. We provided aid to approximately 96 families, each family receiving a 25kg packet of rice and bags of salt. I coined this project “Feed a Village”.
In synchronization with Freedom Social Foundation, on November 21st, 2020 we travelled off-road for hours to two villages called Ghale Kharka/Khaimarang (two different villages in close proximity) and Kanegaau. Ghale Kharka/Khaimarang (a Tamang basti) were very remote villages where food/monetary aid (governmental or individual) had never reached before and as such, when they were informed of me and my team’s arrival, they welcomed us with garlands. An old lady informed me that there are families that are in dire financial state, sometimes not having enough food to provide a family two sizable meals a day. Some families are able to send their children to Pokhara for higher education but most are not; they stay home as drop-outs. She told me that our arrival was a blessing and that our aid would provide these families some comfort, at least for a while. Our conversation is recorded (fully unscripted) on video, should you need it.
The second village we went to was called Khanegaau, which was near Dhampush which is a popular tourist destination. Despite its proximity to a developed area, Khanegaau is extremely remote. A fully dalit basti, this village had also never received external aid before. The villagers gathered and waited their turn as we handed out aid. Some old ladies later spoke to me about their daily struggles with crops and sometimes not having enough food to sustain themselves. A candid conversation is recorded on camera, wherein we asked her about her thoughts on my “rahat bitaran” project.
I have attached some pictures from both villages taken during the course of both distributions. I hope they are of use. I am also attaching the number of a villager from Ghale Kharka who was present during the distribution, should you wish to speak to him.
His name is Padam and his number is (9867284786). I hope that you are able to see my passion and pride towards having led and accomplished this project, and my gratefulness for the gratitude and blessings received. If this project with my name was to be featured in your news, not only would it be a reason for tremendous gratitude but it would also help build credibility for me and my NGO. When I return to Canada to fundraise for projects to be done in Nepal, it would help secure and build confidence in donors.
Having been published in one of the most reputable news channels in Nepal would be a point of tremendous pride for me. I would also like you to consider the fact that I spent over two lakh NPR completely out-of-pocket towards this project. No matter how much funds I raise in the future, none of that amount of going to be reimbursed.
Any funds raised can only be used towards FUTURE projects. The credibility that this article would provide me would help Nepal as a country because whatever funds I raise will be spent in leading more social projects in Nepal. Whatever little aid I am able to provide, it will be appreciated tremendously by the ones who receive it. I hope the scale at which I am able to help gets larger with time as well. I end my email with this.
Please consider all facets of this project, and my own personal background, and allow this project a small feature in the newspaper. I hope this will also encourage non-resident Nepali’s in a privileged position to come back to their country and do their bit towards their people. thank -you
