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We always felt guilty. In every get together we talked about Nepal: the corruption in politics and bureaucracy, the pollution in Kathmandu and everything else that was going wrong in the country. We went on holiday and upon return we described our first hand experience to friends about how the situation in the country was getting worse day by day.
On pints of beer or glasses of whisky, we discussed about what was good and what was not for Nepal. But if someone asked us, what we had contributed to right the wrongs we so passionately criticized, our answer would be "nothing". It was a terrible paradox. We were showing too much concern for our country without being contributing citizens!
While we found ourselves talking too much about Nepal and doing virtually nothing, many non-Nepalis were actually making things happen in Nepal getting involved in various social works. They were donating to agencies, which financed almost all the international and national Non-Governmental Organizations in the country. In such a situation we wondered if some sort of campaign could be started to encourage Nepalis, especially those living abroad, to contribute as much as they could for Nepal.
The question was: how? We thought of a way where a fraction of the earnings of each working member of the Nepali community could be collected in a fund and be spent on good causes in Nepal. The result was the idea of "One Pound a Month Fund for Nepal."
The problem was to develop a mechanism that would translate the idea into action and ensure proper utilisation of the fund. The experience of most Nepalis who had raised funds in the past was not very encouraging due to faulty management at the beneficiary's end. This led to the idea of Nepal Coordination Team, which, besides co-ordinating the projects, would also try to generate funds locally to support the projects. On one hand, this would encourage local participation and on the other, it would promote the idea of encouraging Nepalis to contribute to a good cause in their own country.
A rough sketch was ready, but it was necessary to float the idea among other friends and get the feedback before embarking into the mission. From early to mid-1999, several brainstorming meetings were co-ordinated by the founding team members, where various questions were raised and solutions sought. The fund was formally launched on 19 September 1999.
However, due to various technical reasons the actual work started some three months later in the beginning of 2000. The achievements made since then are the result of the support of hundreds of Nepalis, without which the whole idea would never have materialised.
The Founding Team
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