Sahin and Aris – who attend Band-3 local schools in Form 2 and Primary 6, respectively – were frequent after-school attendees of the Jordan centre to catch up with studies while their parents worked. It would give them some semblance of normalcy and familiarity in the notoriously difficult integration path into Chinese-speaking schools.

“We are very invested with these kids and their parents. They are fantastic and we’ve seen them grow up. We felt really bad that such an unfortunate event happened. They always came in and worked with a smile on their face,” said Dhar, recalling their first encounter in 2017.

“We let the family grieve, then I went to their home to pay respect and speak with their mother and uncle. I said, ‘If you get back into the educational cycle, we are always here to help you’. Schools are schools and studies are studies – it will keep running at 100 miles an hour, even in the worst and most horrendous of circumstances.

“The kids were back studying [the following] Monday. I realised that, in the real world, everything costs so much in a place like Hong Kong and it would be very challenging for the mother. We told her not to worry and that we would take care of it. First and foremost we are a charity. Our key objective is – come hell or high water – we will not let you and your kids drop off the education wheel. We will do everything possible.

“It was our commitment but I required a commitment from the kids that they had to turn up. I extend my hand to shake with you but it can only be a handshake if you extend yours, too. The kids are extremely sensible and sober and immediately responded. It worked out well.”

Dhar’s schools have been providing such aid for Hong Kong’s academically marginalised students since 2015. He explained that the lack of inclusiveness from the get-go is “all interwoven” and perpetually impacts grades and further opportunities as children develop into adults. The two centres boast roughly 240 registered children, many of whom are Nepali, Pakistani and Indonesian.

“From the first day we started, they have always been extremely helpful and understanding. Usually others would duck and dodge, but we’ve had so much support over the last few years, be it Rugby Sevens tickets for our kids to learn about an iconic Hong Kong showpiece, or coaching and training for our kids in the summer, or this year’s annual sports day organised by the Rugby Union.”

Those familiar with the rugby community would know that if anyone seeks a helping hand, they will get several more in return. In no time, the likes of domestic teams Valley Black Ladies and HKU Sandy Bay’s youth and senior women’s would start baking cookies by the batch with all proceeds going to the Gurungs.

“I knew the community was very team spirit-oriented and thought it would be nice for someone to get up and be involved. It was such a nice gesture and fundraising drive, if you want to call it that, but’s it’s not really about that,” Dhar explained.

“There are 12-year-olds giving up a bit of pocket money, or teammates and players hearing about it and wanted to help. It’s more that there’s some 40-50 people in Hong Kong who – without batting an eyelid – offered to help without knowing who they were.”

Valley and Sandy Bay presented Sahin and Aris with the money raised from the cookie drive at the centre on Saturday. Sure, every dollar helps during hardship, but most crucially the Gurungs now know they have a whole community behind them.

“I just added it all up and it came to HK$12,000,” said a Valley team representative. “I read the news in the paper and it hit home. I thought any kid losing their father that young is tough, especially with the current Covid climate. With their jobs, their parents would be the most hard-hit, and the dad was the breadwinner of the family. I just felt awful about it.

“Obviously we couldn’t do a bake sale [because of social distancing protocol] but I made cookies at home and said if people wanted to donate, send it through and I’ll give it to the family. There were heaps of people. Initially I wasn’t expecting much, maybe some friends helping, but there were people from all over the rugby community and friends of friends who wanted to help. I rocked up to training with about 20 boxes of cookies last week. It took a lot of time but it’s worth it.

“It was really heart-warming because they don’t know these kids. It’s been a tough year for everyone and hopefully we’re past the worst of it. It’s about pushing through together and hopefully we’ll be back playing rugby soon enough.”

Dhar concluded: “These days, everybody is so busy painting the doom and gloom narrative, that the world is coming to an end. This is proof that hope, inspiration and humanity exist. That people are genuinely nice and want to help. That rugby, in an unorthodox way, paved the way for this drive.”