Fundraising for the only free Sherpa training school in Nepal has begun with a lecture tour in the US. Adventurer Squash Falconer and Summit Climb’s Dan Mazur have been speaking in California about mountaineering and what they do to raise money to build the school and to help cover the costs of shipping donations like new and lightly used climbing and trekking equipment to Nepal. The project means Sherpas from remote villages with the capability but no money will have access to learn and get jobs.
The new Sherpa training school is an all-volunteer program with the Mount Everest Foundation for Sustainable Development (MEFSD). The MEFSD is building the school so that 30 aspiring young sherpas, both men and women, can be trained in the skills and ethics of trekking and climbing.
Safety, technique, communication, education, health, environmental, cultural preservation and economic opportunities are the goals of the course so they can help local people in Nepal to earn a good living from sustainable tourism for many years to come.
While the school is a new project, it’s been run informally for years on a small scale; providing kit and teaching climbing skills from a tiny office and a simple small classroom. They would now like to build a bigger storeroom and classroom and they also need quality staff who can review applications and look after the administrators and teachers who have the right technical skills.
Squash and Jangbu on Everest
Adventurer Squash Falconer has been involved with the MEF since 2007; “My first service trek was in 2010. I visited Debouche Nunnery in 2009 [a project supported by the MEF – Ed] and completed a Service trek for them in December 2010 to a remote village in Nepal called Patale where Jangbu, the Sherpa I climbed Cho Oyu and Everest with, is from. Jangbu works hard with the MEF to get education and medicine to his village.
“When I visited Patale, I met Jangbu’s family. His two young sons attend the primary school built by the MEF. We took them school bags and books and helped teach them how to write some English words and make paper mache. Since then the school has had a new wing and a library built and they are working on getting a computer room. They also now have a hostel for the teachers to sleep in. The MEF also helped install a 2kw micro hydro-electric turbine which powers electric light bulbs for 100 houses in the village.”
If you are interested in donating either equipment or money you can do so by emailing [email protected] or by clicking the Sherpa Climbing School link below.
RELATED LINKS
www.SherpaClimbingSchool.org
www.squashfalconer.com
www.summitclimb.com