Our History
The word tempus is Latin for opportunity and timing; the organization was formed after founder Chris de Eyre returned from volunteering in Nepal, where he was struck by the lack of opportunities available to local youth. He recruited a group of like-minded students in Toronto and Tempus International was born in 2003.
Today, youth from countries around the world are involved with the organization. With the support of our dedicated team of volunteers, we present our skills and resources to local development experts in Nepal who connect us with places and people that can benefit from our projects.
The structure of Tempus allows us to operate in an efficient and effective manner, achieving maximum results at minimal costs. By operating primarily online, avoiding overhead costs such as rent and salaries and using donated space for meetings, we are able to apply almost 100 percent of the funds we raise directly towards supporting literacy and education.
A Message from Our Founder, Chris de Eyre
When I think back to my first trip to Nepal (the one that ignited the process of building Tempus International) there is a memory that stands out of a young boy selling T-shirts to tourists in Kathmandu. I can’t remember his name, but I’d bet that he remembers mine – not because of anything I did, but because he remembers every name and every face of every person he has ever met. It was quite fun to witness him in action, calling out the names of tourists as they passed by and asking them in perfect English if they were ready to buy that shirt they had looked at a few days earlier.
This boy was so friendly and eager to chat with any potential customer that I couldn’t resist asking him a few questions about his life and what he’d like to do with it. I shouldn’t have been surprised when he looked at me like I was the child and explained his situation: he wasn’t enrolled in school because he needed to sell shirts to help his father support his family, and in the future his son would help him in the same way.
Here was a sincere, brilliant, hard-working, and well-intentioned young boy who would spend his entire life selling T-shirts to tourists. Had he been born into a decent family in a more developed country, there is no telling what he would have been capable of achieving. I was struck hard by the notion of how many youth in the world may never have an opportunity to choose their own path in life.
Tempus was founded with these youth in mind. Less than a year after my trip, I assembled a team of volunteers and together we began building an organization with the goal of providing opportunities to underprivileged youth. We chose to focus on education and literacy, because there is no better or more sustainable tool to create opportunities for future generations.
Today, tens of thousands of youths across Nepal participate in our “The Mighty Pen” writing competition, and are inspired to read and write in their native langugage. Countless others benefit from the children’s books that have begun filling the shelves of Nepalese libraries as a result of the publication and distribution of the winning story entries.
Thank you for visiting our website, and I hope that you will be inspired by these incredible kids in the same way that I continue to be every day!
Chris de Eyre
Founder, Tempus International
