British expedition company Jagged Globe and a group of leading trekking agencies around the world are rallying around the Nepalese people to raise funds for the Sherpas, porters and cooks that have been left with no income due to Coronavirus.
In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Nepal government closed this spring’s mountaineering and trekking season, completely wiping out the income of all those who work in the mountains of Nepal. Jagged Globe are urging people to help them support them and their families, by donating via their https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-sherpas/ page. The money will go to “Sherpa Aid” from where it will be sent to Nepal and distributed to those most in need through a local Welfare Fund.
To help raise funds, Everest climber and chronicler, Alan Arnette is doing a “Virtual Everest 2020 Coverage” (visit: http://www.alanarnette.com/) which Jagged Globe and others are supporting across social media. Starting on 2nd April, Alan plans to do a daily blog based on his own Himalayan experiences; two expeditions to Lhotse plus four to Everest featuring his summit in 2011.
Looking to the future, the company suggests that outdoor enthusiasts can provide long-term support to Himalayan communities by climbing or trekking in Nepal as soon as the crisis has passed and we’re all able to travel once more. Jagged Globe have stated that their aim is to “be the same with the same people working for us after the crisis as they were before, whether they work in the UK or overseas.”
The Nepal Welfare Fund
We have a long established relationship with Nepal, and in that time we have weathered many storms – the avalanche of 2014 and the 2015 earthquake being recent examples. We have a means and method of supporting local staff through a local Welfare Fund. This has been helping Sherpas and their families for over 25 years and will do so through this problem as well, just as it has before. We will top up the fund to ensure it can manage, as we did in the aftermath of the previous disasters that befell the mountain communities in Nepal.
Pic credit: Alun Richardson