Project OM - Adventure for Education

 Project OM - Adventure For Education is a charity Project Started by Måns Sjögren, Oskar Normelli, & Pemba Patle Sherpa.

The main goal of the Project is to raise funds for Janata Basic School, Located in Pembas home villages. The Village of Patle in the Dorakharka District in Nepal.

Janata Basic School, (The compound in the middle of the picture) located in Patle.

Måns and & Oskar both work has trekking and Peak-climbing guides in the country, having close cooperation with the local communities and local guides. Through this project we want to give back to our amazing colleagues and friends in Nepal, who enable us to work our dream jobs. Most of our colleagues stem from the village of Patle, so it doesn't seem more than right that we should aid them to the best of our abilities.

From left to right: Pemba, Oskar, Måns.

Patle used to be very disconnected from the rest of the world. Thanks to Pemba and his foundation, Ascent Aid Nepal, him and his Team has been able to change that, A few years back Patle was completely without Electricity, internet, cell connection, basic Plumbing etc. The first road was built back in 2013, thus enabling cars to bring in supplies to the village for the very first time. Until then supplies had to be brought in on foot, a solid 4 day round-trip to reach the nearest village connected to a road.

After the devastating Earthquake in 2015 Pemba and Ascent Aid Nepal decided it was time for more change, and started the construction of a school for the children in the area, Janata Basic School.

The school currently employs 8 teachers and approximately 100 children attend the school.

Project OM is a 3 stage plan for Måns and Oskar.

When we first met we jokingly discussed our chances of skiing one of the tallest mountains in the world, an 8000er. Instead of letting it stay a joke, we decided to turn that dream into reality.

The first stage was carried out in the fall of 2022, when Måns and Oskar, together with Pemba set out on an expedition to Nepal to increase awareness for the village of Patle and as well as for the people of Nepal. The objective of the Expedition was to visit Patle and the children in the school , to get a first-hand look of the situation and get a better idea of what we could do to help. Afterwards we would make a ski-descent of Mera Peak (6475 AMSL) and climb the legendary mountain Ama-Dablam (6812 AMSL).

The second stage, will be carried out in the fall of 2025, where we will climb and ski the 7124 meter tall mountain Himlung Himal.

The final stage, will be to ski a 8000 meter mountain in Nepal, something we wish to complete before 2029.

Aerial view of Mera peak High Camp (5900m)

The expedition was overall a great success, the ski-descent of Mera Peak went great, however, due to the entire expedition team getting caught by the Flu the climb of Ama Dablam had to be aborted.

During the expedition the Team managed to raise 10.000 USD to be donated to Ascent Aid Nepal, the charitable non-profit organization led by Pemba responsible for running the school. The money was used to construct a playground for the children on the school-grounds. Both Oskar and Måns fondly remember how their favorite part of going to school as kids was the playground, thus making this a perfect and very personal investment to the school. Enabling children to have fun and more freedom is something we at Project OM value significantly.

During the Autumn of 2023 Måns and Oskar returned to Nepal for a second attempt to climb Ama Dablam, during the visit we also spent time in Patle once more. To see the smiles of the children enjoying the playground almost brought us to tears. According to the teachers and locals in Patle, the playground has served as a big motivation for the children to attend the school. During our visit we also brought with us school supplies such as pens, notebooks, and other various items used to further aid their education, funded via our charity, Adventure For Education. We also planted a herb garden for the schools kitchen and canteen, as well as other various bushes and trees around the school premises to give the area a greener and cozier environment for the children to learn and study in.

The ascent of Ama Dablam was a great success, an almost 3 week long expedition to reach a single summit, definetly worth it! We stayed in the basecamp for 12 days, the summit climb lasted 3 days, with our final push from Camp 2 to the summit and back to basecamp lasting for 23 consecutive hours of climbing. It brought us much closer to our Sherpa friends and colleagues, and will serve as a treasured memory for all of us for the rest of our lifes.

The expedition team, consisting of Sherpas Måns, Oskar, Per, and Sherpas from Patle, our friends and guiding colleagues.

There is still a significant amount of investments to be made in order to increase the standard and the lives for the children in the school. We're certain that that education is the most important thing there is when it comes to bettering the living standards and life of people in impoverished countries. Nepal is unfortunately one of the poorest countries in the world, Ranking 158th out of 187 in IMF's report on Nominal GDP per capita in 2019. And 30% of the country still being illiterate.

Our next goal is the build a hostel for children who live far away from the school. The school is located as centrally located as pssoible in Patle, but Patle is still a very spread out village, meaning that some children have to make a 2-3 hour roundtrip on foot each day to attend school. Something that discourages both the childern and the parents. Especially during the summer months, when rivers and streams flow high, and bear and tigers are more active in the Area. In order for these children to get the same oppurtuninty as their peers, a hostel for the to stay in on the school grounds is vital. Plans have been set in motion but funding is till scarce. The project is estimated to cost around 15.000 USD.

Your donation would greatly help the children of Patle, and thus giving them the chance, and the right to a better life.

From left to right: Måns, Pemba and Oskar together with the children of Patle.