Gurung, Indra (Judy), is a Nepalese community coordinator, also former district counselor’s assistant in ethnic minority affairs. She grew up in Nepal and India and has been living in Hong Kong since 1996. Through the course of her work, she has seen some Nepalese become homeless or beggars in Hong Kong, as they did not know how to seek help and connect with the wider community and access its resources. Judy started working in various NGOs to service the community and remedy this. Being the communication bridge between ethnic minorities and the community, Judy is determined to enhance social inclusion regarding ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. 

 

In the beginning of the pandemic, there was a shortage of masks. Judy worked in a district councillor office located in Yau Tsim Mong. She contacted many restaurant owners, minibus or bus drivers, including Indian and Nepalese owners, to collect free masks for residents.

 

Then, Judy started making videos and uploading them to social media for forwarding official COVID-19 news. Also, she translated vital information into different languages like English, Urdu, Hindi and put these up in various buildings in Yau Tsim Mong so that residents could know more about quarantine and get lockdown updates. 

 

One night she received urgent calls from ethnic minority residents until 3 a.m. People with a religious background failed to receive Halal food during lockdown; people with expired visas who were forced to stay in Hong Kong during theborder shutdown; people who lost their jobs and had suicidal thoughts because of the pandemic; people who needed medicine and hot water in the quarantine centre.

Now, Judy is unemployed but still helps ethnic minorities spontaneously. She assists people with Chinese speaking difficulties to visit hospitals, and continuously distributes resources to poor ethnic minority families. She hopes for opportunities to serve the community, and believes  ethnic minorities can take part in Hong Kong community development, to build an inclusive society.