Tamu Dhee Canada’s Humanitarian Contributions to various causes in Canada and Nepal

(Compiled by Naba Raj Gurung; and reviewed by Dr. Hari Gurung, Bir Bahadur Gurung, Som Gurung, Prava Gurung, Birkaji Gurung, Pujan Gurung, Purna Gurung, Deepak Gurung (Burlington), Jamuna Gurung, Yamuna Ghale and Raj Kumar Gurung)

The Tamu (Gurung) indigenous people, originally from Nepal, are proud of their cultural heritage and values and the characteristically honest, sincere, guileless and selfless ilk. Tamu Dhee Canada has been established to unite Tamu people in Ontario and across Canada as extended family to love and care each other and to preserve, promote and celebrate the Tamu cultural heritage.

TDC’s vision states “An Ontario-based cohesive and inclusive Tamu Community that is well integrated with the broader Canada-wide Tamu communities that afford a united and larger Tamu fraternity; inter-generational transmission of Tamu culture and values, thus connecting with the cultural roots and enriching the Canadian multiculturalism, and serving the humanity in general and Tamu community in particular.”

One of the TDC missions states: “To develop the humanitarian assistance aspect into a strong component of the Tamu community with the motto of serving the community and humanity”

One of the TDC Objectives states: “To support charitable/philanthropic projects and activities in Canada and Nepal.” Guided by the aforementioned vision, mission and objectives, TDC has thus been contributing towards various humanitarian causes for the last several years.

This report attempts to compile the recent TDC charity contributions for TDC’s own record. Not all past charity contributions have been documented here, but this report will be updated when such scattered records become available.

The table below summarizes TDC’s charity contributions in the recent years

# Year Project Name / Description Contribution Details
1 2013 Support for late Dr. Om Gurung’s treatment in India $1,056
2 2016 Fire victims in Syangja, Nepal 21 affected households were supported @ of Rs. 5,050 per household
3 2017 Lyricist Suk Gurung’s treatment $1,586
4 2017 Muskan Sewa Nepal Members directly donated to the guest (i.e. Ms. Bhawani Rai Gurung who was visiting Toronto)
5 2017 Flood Relief Response in Eastern Nepal Rs. 150,000
6 2017 Support to kidney patient Purna Bahadur Gurung, Lamjung, Nepal $510. The raised fund was sent from Toronto to Calgary for final disbursement to Nepal.
7 2018 Rumjatar Monastery in Nepal $615. Fundraising in the GTA was done at the request of Kul Gurung and Dr. Ai Gurung from Alberta.
8 2019 NRNA-Canada fundraising initiative to support flood and storm victims in Nepal $500
9 2020 Support to international student Ajaya Gurung in London, Ontario $1,371
10 2021 NRNA-Canada fundraising initiative to donate Oxygen Cylinders and help Nepal combat the COVID-19 Pandemic $2,100
11 2022 Support to publish Mr. Keyar Singh Gurung’s poetry collection in Nepal. He is a member of Gandaki Pragya Pratisthan. $840 ($400 from the common fund and the remaining donated by the members)
12 2022 TDC’s December 2022 virtual meeting decided to raise funds and appeal all members to support the current project of NCHC (Nepalese Canadian Heritage Center) to purchae land near Orangeville, Ontario for a Hindu-Buddhist temple. TDC became a “Bhumidan” supporter by donating $3,357 to NCHC (note: a donation of $3k qualifies as a “Bhumidan”). This amount was raised from 11 TDC members and advisors. Because the TDC executive committee was busy in planning the upcoming Lhosar celebration, general members were urged to donate directly to NCHC for this cause. Donations by the general members were not reflected in this amount.