Climb It for Climate – Green Angel project

On our first HCI day, Shilshila Acharya gave us a briefing on the Hamri Bahini (our little sisters) Green Angel project. She’s been intimately involved since the project’s beginning – astoundingly only seven months ago, in February 2013!

By linking the solutions to two intractable problems – the plight of Nepali women working overseas and significant plastic bag pollution in the Kathmandu Valley – the Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI) has created a great project.

Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Volunteering

We have all been looking forward to this day with the Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI), our chance to do some hands-on volunteering with the HCI’s Green Angel project.

First, however, we were taken out to Kirtipur on the hilly outskirts of Kathmandu to meet a most remarkable man and learn how his compassionate love is changing the world for the better, one child at a time.

Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Himalayan Climate Initiative

We had an intense, intellectually stimulating day at the Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI) headquarters in Baluwatar, a neat and functional 3-storey establishment in an orderly suburb near the embassy quarter.

Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Sagarmatha Pollution Prevention Committee

With the trek successfully behind us, we had a free afternoon to do as we wished. Most of our group let their hair down in the Wave Bar, playing pool to music downloaded from their phones and rehearsing the trek rap song led by Hannah  (Dahl Baht Power – 24 Hour). Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Phakding to Lukla

I got up for an early morning walk and wash in the stream that ran down the hill above the village. I made my way up to a spot where I could bathe discretely, well below the intake point for the water pipes that feed water into the houses.

Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Namche Bazaar to Phakding

Our big descending traverse to Phakding thankfully coincided with a cool sunny day. The path began on a gentle gradient through tall pine and oak forests, high above the river just visible through the trees as a white ribbon snaking along the bottom of the valley.  We made way for several unloaded yak trains making their way downhill to pick up supplies from towns lower down.

Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Pheriche to Namche Bazaar

After group discussion, we chose to push on an extra hour and a half all the way down to Namche Bazaar today, to make up the day lost in Kathmandu airport and ensure we could do all three of our volunteer days with the Himalayan Climate Initiative in Bhaktapur.

Continue reading

Climb It for Climate – Gorak Shep to Pheriche

The gods intervened in our plans as it snowed through the night. We woke to a black and white landscape and low cloud, so no hope of climbing to Kala Patthar.  While a little sad not to rise at 4am to see the dawn break over Pumori, Nuptse, Lhotse and Everest, the day was richly rewarding in its own way.

Continue reading