A Call to Rebuild Nepal
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Pictured at the top from L to R: Pemba Sherpa, Dave, Gopal Gurung, and Narayan Gurung.
I'm Dave (second from the left). I first went to climb Everest in 1988. I fell in love with that part of the world and it’s people and culture. I returned every year there after on climbing expeditions and eventually began a guide service called Mountain Odyssey Treks & Expeditions with my good friend Pemba Sherpa. We hired Pembas’ brothers, cousins and friends and they became my family too. We spent many great days together on the trails and mountains of Nepal. Now I sit in my home warm and dry, in Jackson Wyoming, watching the news of the killer earthquake come out of Nepal and I am saddened, wondering where they all are. I have made contact with some and they survived the disaster but lost their homes. Others I have been unable to reach. In the 90s we created an education fund to send all of the children of our staff members to private schools. They are now grown and speak fluent English and have computer skills. We don’t know yet if they are still alive.
Having spent some of the best days of my life with these people I am unable to stand by watching the news without offering my help. Aid organizations from around the world are racing to Nepal’s assistance with the most crucial needs. I have been speaking with my Sherpa friends and it is clear that after the initial response and the story has faded from public attention, what will be needed most in coming months is money, money and more money. Much attention will be focused on the Kathmandu Valley where the population is most dense. There will certainly be those too who will try to take advantage and profit from of the misery of the Nepalese people. My intention is to avoid this and work directly with people that I know.
My Sherpa friends tell me it is possible to build a simple house for approximately $2000 in the more remote areas. Often villagers come together and can build a home in 15 days in a barn-raising fashion. This will be the greatest need for those in the more remote villages in coming months and the monsoon season approaching.
It is my goal to raise as much money as possible and disperse it directly into the hands of people we know with the greatest need. I will look for those who don’t live on popular trekking routes and have no other resources to begin again and I will disperse the money to re-build as many houses as possible.
I invite you to join me. Build a house in Nepal!
To follow our progress through Updates, click on "SHOW ALL" at the bottom of the most recent Update post.
I'm Dave (second from the left). I first went to climb Everest in 1988. I fell in love with that part of the world and it’s people and culture. I returned every year there after on climbing expeditions and eventually began a guide service called Mountain Odyssey Treks & Expeditions with my good friend Pemba Sherpa. We hired Pembas’ brothers, cousins and friends and they became my family too. We spent many great days together on the trails and mountains of Nepal. Now I sit in my home warm and dry, in Jackson Wyoming, watching the news of the killer earthquake come out of Nepal and I am saddened, wondering where they all are. I have made contact with some and they survived the disaster but lost their homes. Others I have been unable to reach. In the 90s we created an education fund to send all of the children of our staff members to private schools. They are now grown and speak fluent English and have computer skills. We don’t know yet if they are still alive.
Having spent some of the best days of my life with these people I am unable to stand by watching the news without offering my help. Aid organizations from around the world are racing to Nepal’s assistance with the most crucial needs. I have been speaking with my Sherpa friends and it is clear that after the initial response and the story has faded from public attention, what will be needed most in coming months is money, money and more money. Much attention will be focused on the Kathmandu Valley where the population is most dense. There will certainly be those too who will try to take advantage and profit from of the misery of the Nepalese people. My intention is to avoid this and work directly with people that I know.
My Sherpa friends tell me it is possible to build a simple house for approximately $2000 in the more remote areas. Often villagers come together and can build a home in 15 days in a barn-raising fashion. This will be the greatest need for those in the more remote villages in coming months and the monsoon season approaching.
It is my goal to raise as much money as possible and disperse it directly into the hands of people we know with the greatest need. I will look for those who don’t live on popular trekking routes and have no other resources to begin again and I will disperse the money to re-build as many houses as possible.
I invite you to join me. Build a house in Nepal!
To follow our progress through Updates, click on "SHOW ALL" at the bottom of the most recent Update post.
Organizer and beneficiary
Dave McNally
Organizer
Jackson, WY
Alison Brush
Beneficiary
