Recently HCC sponsor Naresh Gurung was able to visit with the students at Khushi Ghar. He sat down to talk about his experience as a mentor and sponsor and what it was like to meet the students he’s been helping!
How did you find out about hcc?
My parents were originally from Pokhara and I wanted to be part of an organization helping children in 
Pokhara. I had compiled a short list of organizations in Pokhara until I came across HCC Nepal totally by accident.
What inspired you to donate?
Even though, HCC Nepal didn’t have an operation in Pokhara, I was extremely pleased with small and simple, yet very effective vision of HCC Nepal. I could see videos of little kids (abandoned or orphaned) speaking fluent English which demonstrated good education and good care by HCC Nepal. The response I received after my initial donation to HCC Nepal was not scripted. Bruce Keenan the founder wrote that email of appreciation personally and the response had human touch in it. I decided to commit to this organization helping Nepalese children as long as my family can.
What do you find most rewarding about sponsoring students?
I have always taught my children to be kind to others. We leave lose change (coins or dollar bills) in small donation boxes at the grocery stores whenever we can.
We support big organizations in the event of big tragedies. My family and I play a small role in your vision to empower Children of Nepal. It gives us joy when we see, right in front of our eyes, students growing up, finishing schools, universities and the same children giving back to the community.
This rewarding feeling by sponsoring students at HCC Nepal is far more rewarding then the rewarding feeling by sponsoring big organizations.
What was it like to visit Khushi Ghar?
It was a very short visit to Khushi Ghar. Even though I didn’t remember their names, I recognized most of the students I met there. The spirits of the children are very positive. The atmosphere is full of love and support at Khushi Ghar.
What advice do you have for people trying to find a philanthropic path?
When we started looking for helping out children in Nepal, we ourselves were not in stable position to
sponsor a child and commit for the rest of his/her life. In fact, we still do not consider ourselves to be stable enough. If you would like to help out and also have personal relationships with the organizations like HCC Nepal, I would highly recommend contributing to smaller charity organizations even with small amount of monetary donations.
