On 26 August 2026, devastating flash floods swept through Nepal, causing widespread loss of life and leaving communities facing an unimaginable situation.

Among those missing are 15 members of the trekking team who have worked with VoluntEars over many years, including our Lead Guide, Dan Tamang, his son Pemba, and his brother Bhim. They were all guides and sherpas who played a huge part in the many treks we have run in Nepal. They were also friends, colleagues and much-loved members of the VoluntEars family.

The majority of those who have been lost were from the same mountain village and were the main breadwinners for their families. Their deaths have left wives, children and other family members facing not only the grief of losing someone they love, but also the uncertainty of how they will manage financially in the months and years ahead.

We at VoluntEars are raising funds specifically to support two of these families: the wife and family of Dan Tamang, who led all of our treks, and the wife and two children of his son, Pemba Tamang, who was assistant guide on all of our treks.

100% of the money raised will go directly to these families through monthly payments, helping with everyday living costs and the children's school fees. We are coordinating this with Dan's surviving family members to ensure the funds are distributed in the most helpful way possible.

If you are able to contribute, however much, you will be helping provide some financial security to families who have lost both their loved ones and their main source of income.

Below, VoluntEars Director Richard Clowes shares his personal memories of Dan and Pemba, and of the friendships that have grown from ten years of trekking together.

A message from VoluntEars Director, Richard Clowes

I've worked with Dan and Pemba for ten years, and it is difficult to put into words what they meant to us and to the hundreds of people whose treks they led. They weren't simply guides we hired. They were part of the VoluntEars family.

Over the years we have shared the highs and lows of running countless treks in Nepal; stood on mountains watching an early morning sunrise with a strong black coffee while our customers wake up in a tea house behind us; bounced ideas off each other about the best ways to help people in our groups who needed extra encouragement to get through a particular day; raced each other up rocky steps at 3,000m to be first to arrive at the end of a day, only to then be unable to talk to each other for five minutes because we were so out of breath while the tea house owners laughed at us; paced around nervously waiting for the clouds to part at Lukla so our Everest Base Camp group could take the last flight of the day out of the mountains, while making contingency plans if it didn't happen; explained to Dan why it probably wasn't sensible to climb a tree leaning over a river to look for a monkey to show our group; and put our arms around each other after dropping groups of customers at the airport to fly home after successful treks with people who had never been to the Himalayas before - together we did it.

I remember telling Dan that a VoluntEars group had just given him the sign name 'Late' after he got stuck in Kathmandu traffic, and watched him laugh and enthusiastically learn the sign.

The people we have lost were not simply colleagues. They were the people who helped make our treks what they were, who looked after our customers in some of the most challenging environments in the world, and who became friends along the way. Their loss is devastating for so many people.

In the days immediately following the flood, our focus was on trying to find information about our colleagues and hoping against hope that some of them would be found. We have now had to come to terms with the devastating reality of their loss and begin to think about how we can support those they have left behind.

For those of us who have known Dan and Pemba over the years, the memories are countless. There are the big moments on the mountains, but also the small, funny moments that make up a friendship and those, in the end, are the things we remember most.

We want to honour those friendships by doing what we can to help their families through the incredibly difficult years ahead.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for any support you are able to give.

Dan with one of the VoluntEars Everest Base Camp groups:

Richard and Dan at a tea house after racing up a mountain path!