Himalayan Community Support

 Since the devastating earthquakes earlier this year, we have set up an appeal which is currently standing at well over £270,000.  This fantastic response from so many clients, colleagues and partners has enabled us to provide urgent aid to help our local staff and their families get through the monsoon, after which we will be embarking on a rebuilding programme in the more remote villages. Although our Earthquake Appeal page is closing on 31 May 2016 you can still donate to our ongoing Himalaya Community Support project by clicking on the green button below.

Please go to our Nepal Earthquake page for more up to date information.

Overview 

Exodus has been organising tours and treks to the Himalaya for over 40 years so it is only natural for us to want to give something back. Our focus has always been small-scale practical projects that include providing basic resources such as fresh water and sustainable wood supplies, supporting children's educational needs, empowering women and helping communities preserve or improve their environment whilst giving the maximum possible long-term economic benefit. 

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Biggest achievement to date

Since the devastating earthquakes in Nepal in 2015, we raised well over £270,000.  This fantastic response from so many clients, colleagues and partners enabled us to provide urgent aid to help our local staff and their families get through the monsoon, after which we helped many of our staff in Nepal with their rebuilding costs. We ran a medical camp in the remote village of Thuloptel, and together with Nepal Youth Foundation we funded the building of 6 schools. Our final earthquake rebuild is a health post cum birthing centre in the remote village of Chyamthang in eastern Nepal. This is being built in 2019 and we hope it will be completed by the end of the year.

Download the Himalayan Support Newsletter for more information regarding Exodus' involvement and the projects.

 

Current Projects

Thanks to the tremendous generosity of our clients, we are able to support a wide variety of causes in Nepal and Ladakh. 

Freedom Kitbags, Nepal
When Nepali women have their period, they are called ‘chhaupadi’, which translates as ‘untouchable being’. Women have to deal with the stigma associated with menstruation as well as the problems that come from being without proper sanitary protection. This all holds women back from the ability to play a fuller role in their world. Freedom kitbags have been developed in Nepal and a kit consists of washable pads, pad holders, panties, a pretty carrying purse, soap and a washing line. The kits are distributed on a training day, where both men and women are advised on how to deal with menstruation. Up to May 2019 Exodus has donated 1200 kitbags. We are also sponsoring the setting up of sewing/training centres so that in the future women can make their own kitbags.

Kyanjin Gompa Old People's Home, Nepal
In Kyanjin gompa, in the upper Langtang Valley at an altitude of over 4,000m, there is a small old people’s home. Currently there are 5 elderly people living here, all of who lost their families in the 2015 earthquake. Although they have a room here, because of their age they are unable to create income to buy food and they cannot collect wood or water which they need to cook and some are unable to cook for themselves. From April 2019 we have started a ’sponsor a granny’ fundraiser to pay for a cook/carer. A local woman has been employed on a trail basis for a year and Exodus are funding her salary and some of the food costs. The cost will be £2500 for a year’s support.

Angels Children's Home, Nepal
We provide about £400 a year for school uniforms or books or sports kit for over 20 children.

HAMWWA, Nepal
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

Braga Tree Nursery, Nepal
Braga Tree Nursery was set up in 2006. You can visit this project on our Annapurna Circuit Trek. This was one of our first projects in the Himalaya. We support this very small-scale tree planting nursery in the upper Annapurna region and pay the salary of the couple who donated the land and look after the nursery.

Women's Eco Cafes, Ladakh, Northern India
In the Marka Valley, a popular trekking route in Ladakh we have funded the setting up and training for local women’s groups of three Eco Cafes. They are in Hankar, Pensi and Kaya. Each is run by a local women’s group and serves locally made food and drink plus safe filtered drinking water and good organic coffee. The local women are also trained in felted handicrafts which they sell in the cafes and homestays. You can visit these cafes on our Markha Valley trek.

Ranbipura Community Hall, Ladakh, Northern India
Ranbirpura is a small community of 26 families. There is no temple in the village, which means the people here have communal space for family gatherings, village social events or religious occasions. Exodus has been helping with small donations every year since 2013.

Donkey Sanctuary, Leh, Ladakh, Northern India
This sanctuary looks after old and injured donkeys and we provide money for food and vets fees.

Earlier Achievements

• More than 50 solar cookers installed across teahouses in the Everest region. Cookers were also donated to The Sir Edmund Hillary Hospital and School in Kunde and Khumjung, the porter shelters in both Thyangboche and GorakShep and the monastery in Thyangboche. 
• 139 smokeless stoves have been installed in Thulopatel, a fairly large village in the Jiri area south west of the main Everest trekking region, where many of our trekking staff come from. Many of these were destroyed in the Nepal earthquake and we have replaced many of the stoves for the families who wanted them.
• We have also built two classrooms in one of the village schools in Thulopatel and provided water pipe and cement for water projects in the village so that now every house is close to a stand pipe. 
• In the village of DandaKharka we helped the villagers get connected to a local hydro power project and we supplied poles for the electric wires.
• Funds raised by a sky-diving supporter enabled us to provide a wheelchair for Lal Gauri Tamang, a 21-year old girl who has been paralyzed since she was 18 months old. Her father works as a porter in Nepal and she requires 24 hour care which her family provides. 

How You Can Help

Visit – come on one of Exodus’ Nepal and Ladakh holidays and you will have the opportunity to see our work in action. 
Donate – you can donate any leftover rupees you may have after your trip in a special collection box at the Royal Singi Hotel in Kathmandu, or you can donate online.  

Speak to a Supporter
You can either contact our Himalayan Operations Manager Valerie Parkinson ([email protected]) for details on the projects or contact Claire Daniel in the office for more information on our trips that visit the Himalaya.