Summer Samosas
For the last four years, I have been traveling every other summer to the village of Barpak in Nepal to work on small projects aimed at increasing learning opportunities for the children living there. The small mountain village was the epicenter of a massive earthquake back in 2015 and is still recovering from the devastation it left behind. In 2018, I created the Barpak Multimedia Learning Center, a space equipped with laptops, learning software, projectors, educational films, and legos; that project built upon the reading room I had established in Barpak in 2016.
I was to have traveled this summer to oversee the reading room’s transition to the new school building in the village. But with the COVID-19 pandemic restricting travel to Nepal, I was forced to adjust my plans. So I decided to focus my efforts on raising US$1500, enough to cover the salaries of Sanju, Sita, Keyrani, and Tilu — the four young women who keep the centers running — for another year.
While brainstorming fundraising ideas, my younger sister Tara suggested a samosa fundraiser: what if we took orders for samosas from the DC Metro Area, she said, and offered to do home deliveries? Tara had been craving samosas and we figured others would also welcome the chance to nibble on the savory vegetarian snack. It would add variation to their home cooked meals during quarantine, and give them the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young children halfway across the world. Brilliant!
I quickly created a SignupGenius page so people could sign up for orders of 10, 20, or 30 samosas. I began by sending the link to family and friends.
The idea was an instant hit!
In no time at all, we had orders for 400 samosas from McLean, Falls Church and Arlington. We made the first batch of samosas on May 23 and delivered them the next day, raising US$ 900 for Barpak.
While I had crossed the halfway mark with our first fundraiser, I still had some ways to go before reaching US$ 1500.
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We decided to put up a second SignupGenius link in June. By this point, word had spread and folks who had ordered samosas in May put in their second orders and forwarded the link to their friends. Within a week, we had signups for 650 samosas.
While we had the numbers, Covid-19 limited us in other ways. Tara and I had to rely on each other (and our parents), whereas last year we had roped in our friends Anuragi and Vedika to help.
While I organized the signup, contacted customers, confirmed deliveries, and drove to drop off the samosas in Fairfax, McLean, Fall Church, Arlington, DC and Alexandria, Tara was the chef-in-charge. She organized our parents (and me) into mixing pounds and pounds of potatoes and peas, kneading mounds of dough, rolling out dough into balls and sheets, and shaping the samosas. We spent two weekends this summer shaping samosas, frying them, packing them and delivering them. You can learn about the whole samosa making process, if you visit Tara’s blog cookinquarantine.
The samosas were a huge hit! Tamara wrote: “I snuck a samosa last night and one for breakfast too. They are one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.”
I surpassed my initial goal — raising a total of $2200.
These funds will go towards the salaries of the four young custodians who run the reading room and the multimedia centers, and any costs associated with moving the reading room to a permanent location this year.
I am starting college in North Carolina this fall and will not be able to hold fundraisers during the school year. However, I do plan to have another samosa fundraiser in November when I am back home for winter break.
Thank you and enjoy your summer!
