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 this region for nearly 40 years, 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 and helping communities preserve or improve their environment whilst giving the maximum possible long-term economic benefit. 

 Donate now!

Biggest achievement to date

Exodus first became involved with the Nava Kiran Orphanage in 2002 and by 2006 had raised enough money to build and help furnish a brand new home built on land donated by a Nepali well-wisher.  With this major project completed, we continued to help fund children’s education costs for many years and now our involvement has effectively come to an end. 

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, including:

Nalbung Village, Nepal
Set high above the Seti River, we have been helping the village and Kalika School since 1998. The school now has almost 100 students but only 3 teachers including the head master so since 2009 we have been sponsoring one additional teacher. In 2013 five of our Nepali leaders and trekking guides went to the village with 49 smokeless stoves donated by Exodus supporters. The stoves were fitted in every house and the villagers were taught how to use the stoves. We would now like to raise money to buy a small piece of land which will allow the school to build additional classrooms. 

Ranbipura Village, Ladakh, India
Since the floods of 2006, Exodus has been raising funds to support communities that were affected. Our latest involvement is in Ranbirpura, 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 started raising money in 2013, and the foundations were laid in December.

We would love you to ‘buy a brick’?  Your gift of £ 10.00 will actually provide 150 bricks and as a donor, your name will be commemorated on a plaque. You can donate securely online through Friend's of Conservation and your money will go to the Ladakh Temple Brick Appeal - and we can finish the job! 

Other Achievements

• Braga Tree Nursery set up in 2006. Visit this project on our Annapurna Circuit Trek
• Annual donation for HAMWWA (High Altitude Workers Welfare Association) 
• 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 comefrom.
• We have also built two classrooms in one of the village schools in Thulopatel.
• Since 2005 a couple of Exodus trekkers have raised enough funds to install water pipes and a water tank as well as repairs to the monastery in the village of DandaKharka. In summer 2011, the village was connected to the local hydro power plant, meaning each home now has electricity with the help of money supplied by Exodus for the villagers to buy poles for the electric wires.
• UV filters have been installed in Rumbak, Skiu, Markha, Hankar, Nimaling and Chilling to provide safe drinking water for trekkers along the Markha Valley in Ladakh. Exodus has provided water containers for tea tents so owners can sell safe drinking water to trekkers (meaning no plastic water bottles should be left along the whole of the Markha Valley). 
• Funds raised by a sky-diving supporter enabled us to provide a wheelchair for LalGauriTamang, 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. 
• In 2013 Exodus decided to support a donkey sanctuary in Leh.  As we use mules and donkeys for carrying loads on trek, animal welfare is close to our hearts.  We are supporting the Donkey Sanctuary, a home for retired donkeys. We sponsor two of the donkeys, which we have named Exodus and Stok Kangri!
• In 2014 we are helping to set up a Women’s Eco Cafe in Hankar village, in Ladakh.  It will sell organic food and locally made handicrafts. We’ve also run courses on safe drinking water and waste management in the village, and are providing wire for flood barriers to protect Hankar against future natural disasters. 

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.  You can chose to support our Educational Fund or our general Himalayan Community Support Fund via Friends of Conservation.  

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