Kyanjin Gompa care home in the upper Langtang Valley at an altitude of over 4,000m is home to 5 elderly Nepalis who lost their family in the 2015 earthquake. They are unable to create income to buy food and they cannot collect wood or water for cooking, and some are unable to cook for themselves. We fund food, clothing, blankets and other necessities. Chautara is a small town East of Kathmandu where we are supporting a care home for 17 people without families. We provide food and other essential items to help them over the harsh winter.
Angel’s is a children’s home in Patan, Nepal and there are currently 14 young adults living here. Dr Rosa and Dr Ian Matheson were the founders of Friends of Angel’s in 2009. Working with many friends and supporters in the UK, they raise the money to pay for the food, house rent and education of the young people. We provide yearly funding which helps to pay for school uniforms, winter clothes and school books to enable the young people to achieve their full potential.
Since 2019, The Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation has been teaming up with the Sankalp Taru Foundation (Trees for Livelihood) who support sustainable farming, to plant 5000 apple and apricot trees in one of India’s most remote mountainous regions of Ladakh. Each year we send 500 saplings to be kept in bunkers ready to plant every spring, with the next 500 saplings to be planted in 2026.
We give an annual donation of £500 to HAMWWA (High Altitude Workers Welfare Association). This pays for the education of 5 children whose fathers have died either on expeditions or whilst trekking.
In the Markha Valley, a popular trekking route in Ladakh, we have funded the set up of Eco Cafe Hankar. The cafe is run by a local women’s group and serves locally made food and drink including organic coffee, plus safe, filtered drinking water. The local women are also trained in felted handicrafts which they sell in the cafes and homestays. The cafe is closed during winter but you can visit it on our Markha Valley trek in Ladakh in July and August.
When Nepalese women have their period, they are referred to as ‘chhaupadi’, which translates to ‘untouchable being’. A movement led by Nepalese women against these taboos has been gaining traction for years now. Beni Rani Ghale and Dr. Rosa Matheson have led these campaigns and together developed Freedom Kit Bags with the aim of enhancing women’s health and quality of life. A Freedom Kit Bag includes washable pads for daily and night-time use, pad-holders, patterned panties, a pretty carrying purse, a waterproof bag for used pads, soap, a washing line and pegs, and a bright holder-bag to keep it all safely together. The kits are distributed together with a training day where both men and women are taught period health management and trained in the ‘care of the kit’.
Since 2016, Exodus has sponsored over 4500 Freedom Kit Bags, as well as the setting up of two Sewing Rooms, a training course for 4 Exodus local staff and will continue to sponsor the creation and education of over 400 more Freedom Kit Bags in 2025. Read more about our epic distribution of 500 bags here.
In 2020, Sarita Praja was chosen for the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation Scholarship. She studied to be a nurse at the Nightingale Nursing College Lalitpur. Sarita graduated in 2023 and is now a fully qualified nurse in Nepal, looking forward to her future in healthcare.
