Dechristo Posted January 30, 2007 Posted January 30, 2007 January 2007 The Mountain Fund Newsletter The best news about good deeds on the planet. Greetings! Welcome to 2007! This is the year we change the world; you and The Mountain Fund, together. As a supporter, a sponsor, a partner organization or a newsletter reader, we can move incredible mountains this year. Our year of moving mountains will start with the Outdoor Retailer Tradeshow in Salt Lake City. Our sponsor, Osprey Packs, will announce a huge new campaign in partnership with The Mountain Fund. Working with Osprey, we will recycle hundreds of used backpacks to women's outdoor education programs in Nepal and Uganda; an at-risk youth outdoor program in Kyrgyzstan; search and rescue crews in South America, Central Asia and SE Asia; boy scout troops and at-risk youth programs all over the U.S. and more. Currently, there is no national program for the re-use and recycling of outdoor equipment. Osprey, in partnership with The Mountain Fund, has taken the lead as a responsible company committed to the environment and the advancement of access to the outdoor experience in under-served and under-privileged groups. As Osprey rolls out it's new line of packs made from nearly 100% recycled materials, it will be donating hundreds of used packs to The Mountain Fund for re-use around the world. Recycle, reuse and empower others at the same time. That's a real win-win situation for all of us. That's just day one of 2007 at The Mountain Fund. Read on and see what we are doing, what you are doing, to move mountains for thousands of people. Whew, we ROCK ! Climbers' Alert Network by Mountain Fund At long last ! new climb aid In a recent special bulletin, we announced a new humanitarian initiative for 2007 originally called Climb- Aid, and now more appropriately being called the Climbers' Alert Network. Climbers' Alert Network grew out of the experiences of serving in a very minor role during the complex and lengthy search for Charlie Fowler and Chris Boskoff. The pair was missing in a remote area of China and information as to their exact location was not clear, leading to an even more difficult task. Sadly, Charlie was found dead, and it is presumed Chris is as well. It was clear as the search began and progressed that friends and family had nowhere to turn for help. There is no international toll-free number to call when someone you love is late returning from a climb, a hike or any form of outdoor exploration in remote regions of the world. A search can be an incredibly expensive undertaking, and currently there is no vehicle in place and ready to go for families and friends to raise the money needed. Currently, no emergency fund exists to help a family member fly to the scene of a search and rescue and be nearer to the lost loved one. There is no emergency fund to help a family member make it through the first few hard weeks after the loss of a loved one. Over a year ago, The Mountain Fund began talking about the need for assistance to family and friends to help launch search efforts, raise money, fly to the scene and deal with the very real consequences of loss. 2007 is the year we make it real. Our techno-geek friends are working hard right now designing a system that will allow anyone, anywhere in the world to post information about an expedition or outing. The sort of information that becomes critical to search and rescue efforts, should they be needed. A posting will require that two emergency contacts be listed and those contacts will be sent an e-mail with the destination and expected return dates. The Mountain Fund will also monitor the return dates and begin making contacts if someone does not check in on time. The Mountain Fund is developing a human network of contacts throughout the world's mountainous regions that can be called upon for assistance. We are asking for your help to build this network. As an outdoor person, you probably know the people we need to know. Someone in China, Nepal, Central Asia or South America. Someone who speaks Nepali, Spanish or another language and could become a vital interpreter at the right time. Someone on a search and rescue team in Alaska, or anywhere in the world. Perhaps even someone with special knowledge of a particular range of mountains. We need those contacts, and we need your help to get them. Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think could be a reliable contact and ask them to volunteer to be "on-call" for an emergency situation. We'll be setting up command centers in Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and other South American countries where information can be gathered and used to save a life, or to bring relief to a grieving family. Please help us build this network. Forward this newsletter here Travel with The Mountain Fund by MF See the World - Trek4Good 2007 will be a banner year for volunteer trips with The Mountain Fund. We are hosting two trips to Peru and three to Nepal. Check them out. One is sure to be perfect for you. Nepal - Gerku School - November 3 - 17, 2007. The Mountain Fund will host a work team for the reconstruction of the school in the village of Gerkhu. The school serves approximately 100 children in the area but has fallen into serious disrepair. The Mountain Fund work teams will spend two weeks bringing the buildings back to useable and safe conditions. Cost of this trip is only $1,000 and includes virtually all of your in-country expenses such as hotels, transportation, food, tents, etc. Airfare to Nepal is not included. Our sponsor Himalayan Travel will arrange your flights at very good prices. Peru - Medical Assistance - July 9 - 23. Not far from Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, The Mountain Fund partner, Reach out Children's Fund, has been key in improving education and educational facilities for the 250 students attending the Huilloc school. Recently, we were informed of the dire medical needs of these children. The following message was sent to us by the Reach Out Children's Fund. "The biggest battle for us is health care. The children never see a doctor and have yet to see a dentist. The biggest issues in the village are: dysentery, broken bones, infected teeth, cataracts and frostbite due to the high altitude." In July 2007, The Mountain Fund will host a trip to Peru to offer medical care and assistance to these children. The 16 day trip will include a tour of the Inca sites, including Machu Pichuu. Cost of this trip is only $1,800 and includes airfare from Lima to Cusco, hotels, transportation, entrance fees to the Inca sites and breakfast most days. Nepal - Moving Medical Camp - October 11-26. Rural Nepal is reachable only on foot. 80% of Nepal is rural and an agrarian society. 85% of Nepali people have no access to healthcare. The average income in Nepal is only $200 a year. Constructing physical clinics and staffing them is costly. Finding trained staff isn't always easy, and due to the remote areas in which clinics need to be located, finding staff who will stay and live in rural villages is a challenge. We have organized a moving medical camp to provide basic healthcare and medical treatment, and to begin to survey and collect data needed to ascertain the long term health and public health needs of these rural villages. Our volunteer medical team will trek deep into the rural countryside on the Tamang Heritage Trail and bring along with us the equipment and supplies needed to stay several days in a village and conduct health clinics. The clinics will address simple health matters (i.e. basic eye, ear, nose and throat exams), provide basic treatment on the spot and refer those needing ongoing care to clinics in the region or regional hospitals. Some of the most common health problems in the area are acute respiratory infections and intestinal worms. We will address these issues to the extent possible, and refer severe cases to the clinic or hospital for follow up. We will have a real focus on disease prevention and conduct public health training to the villages as well as hand out soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other disease preventing products like these. We will gather information, for the first time ever as far as we know, on the general health condition of people in remote villages so that health concerns in the area are documented. On this trip, you will see the beautiful countryside of Nepal as well as many of the unique and exciting sites around Kathmandu. Cost of this trip is $1000 and includes virtually all of your in-country expenses such as hotels, transportation, food, tents, etc. Airfare to Nepal is not included. Our sponsor Himalayan Travel will arrange your flights at very good prices. Peru - Micro-finance. - September 12- 25, 2007. The Mountain Fund will repeat the popular Ausangate Trek Fund Raiser for our micro-finance program in Cusco. Last year we had five guests and a great time. All profits go to Aynikuy, the street vendor loan program we have in Peru. This two week trip takes in all of the sites around Cusco and the Sacred Valley including Machu Pichuu. Then, we trek for 7 days in the high Andes around an incredible and sacred mountain. We'll even kayak glacial lakes at 15,000 feet. Cost for this awesome adventure is $2250 per person and includes airfare from Lima to Cusco, transportation, hotels, breakfast most every day and entrance to Machu Pichuu. Of course, the trek also includes guides, horses, all meals, first-class Mountain Hardwear tents, and the best cook and arrerios in all of Peru. See more at here Nepal - Moving Dental and Vision Clinic - August 2007. The Mountain Fund is hosting a two-week moving dental and vision clinic in the remote Rasuwa district of Nepal. Starting at the Karing for Kids clinic in Goljung, we'll trek the entire Tamang Heritage Trail and stop every other day to set up a health clinic. Volunteers with dental experience and vision testing/treatment experience will spend the entire day treating anyone that comes in the door. Then, we pack up and repeat the clinic in the next village up the trail. Mountain Hardwear generously provided us with tents needed for this clinic including the main portable clinic itself, a giant Mountain Hardwear Space Station. If you are a dentist, dental student, dental worker or opthomologist, optomistrist or other eye specialist, please join us on this trip. Cost of this trip is only $1,000 and includes virtually all of your in-country expenses such as hotels, transportation, food, tents, etc. Airfare to Nepal is not included. Our sponsor Himalayan Travel will arrange your flights at very good prices. Read more about our Trek4Good trips here Himalaya House Needs Your Help by Scott Home to girls rescued from servitude in Pokhara, Nepal. himalaya house girl Himalaya House was founded in 2003 with the purpose of creating a safe haven for disadvantaged and abandoned girls in Nepal. Girls who have spent their lifetimes in distress are now given hope for the first time, along with a second chance at the world like never before. At the gateway to the Annapurna Mountain Range, Himalaya House is home to up-to-15 girls, a Nepali housemother and visiting foreign volunteers. In the ongoing struggle for survival of the family, girls as young as 5 or 6 are commonly bonded into sweatshop labor or domestic servitude. In exchange for their daughters, parents are promised money, support of their domestic affairs and even education and fair treatment for their children. Instead, these girls are forced to work in extremely poor environments and imprisoned in inhumane conditions. Many suffer from harassment, abuse and sexual violence. Even worse than forced labor, but for the promise of more money, family members often kidnap or bond their own kin into the sex trade. Giving them a new chance at life means giving much more than just a safe haven, beyond the affection and protection of their new family. Some facts: Each year more than 10,000 girls between the ages of 10-18 are trafficked into the sex trade, often sold by their parents or a relative. The trafficking of young girls is on the rise. They are trafficked for domestic work, forced beggary, marriage, carpet weaving and into the sex trade. Since the beginning of the Maoist conflicts in 1996, many families are fleeing their village homes. Because of this, there is a dramatic increase in the number of girls displaced in the city areas now involved in exploitive labor sectors. Himalaya House is devoted to creating meaningful lives and second chances for disadvantaged girls in Nepal. Only with your support are we able to continue to provide this hope. For $60 a month you can provide a home, food, clothing and an education for a young Nepali that needs your support to succeed. That's only $2.00 a day to help a young woman start a new life. Skip one trip to the espresso bar and give a girl a home and education, won't you? Himalaya House is full to capacity with no funds to feed and educate these girls. Volunteer opportunities at home and in Nepal are available for the motivated and dedicated. Please help! Empowering the Women of Nepal Sisters 3 Women's Outdoor Programs in Nepal ewn rock climbing Empowering the Women of Nepal recently conducted rock climbing training near its center in Pokhara. A total of 18 participants were involved. Empowering the Women of Nepal (EWN) and 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking work in partnership to promote and empower women through adventure tourism. Together they combine practical skill-based training programs with gainful employment opportunities, specifically focused in the Trekking Industry. Responding to the gross inequality of women in Nepal, EWN offers unprecedented opportunities for Nepali women to improve their quality of life. In January, a new class began to train Nepali women to work in the trekking and outdoor industry. 29 women from 11 districts in Nepal attended the program. Programs such as Empowering the Women of Nepal and The ClimbHigh Foundation (see next article) really need and deserve the support from all of us in the Outdoor Industry, as well as anyone who cares about the future of countries like Nepal and Uganda. In much of the developing world, women are considered chattal. One-half of the human resources are prohibited from obtaining an education, holding a job outside the home and making a contribution to society. Programs like EWN and ClimbHigh provide hope and opportunity. Please support them. Donate to women's programs today at Mountain Fund today. Read about women in Nepal here. ClimbHigh Foundation Needs Sleeping Bags ! ClimbHigh Program empowers women of Uganda The ClimbHigh Foundation is dedicated to teaching women in developing nations the skills that will enable them to benefit from climbing and trekking-related tourism. We focus our work in geographic areas where women have subordinate social status, and as a result have little or no access to education, healthcare or jobs. Our programs enable these women to work as trekking guides and porters in their local mountains and national parks so that they can maintain an adequate, sustainable living wage and can make meaningful, long-term improvements to their quality of life. Our goal is not only to help them achieve financial independence, but also to provide a catalyst for social change in their communities. Women that ClimbHigh has trained and helped to find jobs for need equipment to do their jobs. We are in desperate need of sleeping bags, preferably synthetic insulated ones. The women of ClimbHigh need clean sleeping bags in good condition so they can go to work in the mountains. Please send sleeping bags to The Mountain Fund 139 Madison NE Albuquerque NM 87108 Watch this great movie about ClimbHigh here Heart and Soul Scott What we are doing and why you should care. Heart-Soul MF Logo One and a half years ago we started The Mountain Fund with the goal of becoming the charity that represents the heart and soul of the Outdoor Industry around the world. We had taken a long hard look at the situation and found that, on an international scale, no one was stepping up to the plate and representing outdoor sports like climbing, hiking and trekking in a way that made clear that the industry had heart and soul. Today, there is a voice for people and companies that thrive on outdoor sports and care about how the industry looks to the people that live in the mountainous regions we enjoy so much. That voice is The Mountain Fund. In 2006, The Mountain Fund gave out over $30,000 in grants and in-kind services to nearly 30 programs operating in 10 countries around the world. We did this with two part time staff and a total budget of just over $40,000. We also took nearly a dozen volunteers to mountain regions to help work at clinics, raise funds for a micro-finance program and assist in a project to help a small rural school. In 2007, we will do much, much more: * Start the Climbers' Alert Network to help families of climbers and adventure travellers make it through hard times. * Our health clinics in Nepal will provide care to over 9,000 people. * Our micro-finance program in Peru will enable dozens of families to start and sustain a business. * Our partnership with CutandPaste web labs will provide job training for promising young people in Peru. * Our volunteer center in Kathmandu will bring hundreds of volunteers together with the groups that need them. * Our volunteer trips will bring healthcare and assistance to the most remote villages in Nepal and Peru. * Our support of women's programs will provide opportunity to dozens of women. * Our support of youth programs will open doors for hundreds of at-risk youth. * Our backpack and sleeping bag recycle programs will put tons of gear back to good use. * Our support of environmental programs will help our planet to survive and sustain us all. We are The Mountain Fund. We are your humanitarian voice around the world. We appreciate your support. Together we can, and will, go further. Thank you! Donate Couriers needed to Nepal and Tanzania by IMEC Porter Gear Stuck in the US Carry clothing to Nepal or Tanzania: The IMEC Porter Project is always looking for people and companies who will carry clothing to Nepal and Africa, please contact us if you know anyone who can help. You will be met at the airport by a representative and gain a ride to your hotel into the bargain. For more details email info@hec.org. Visit IMEC Recycle, Reuse and Pass on the Passion MF Announcing Gear4Good at The Mountain Fund recycle globe In the introduction to this issue of our newsletter, we told you about our partnership with Osprey Packs to "Pass on the Passion". Under the Osprey program, you can get a 10% rebate on a brand new Osprey pack by sending your old (clean and usable) pack to The Mountain Fund. We'll get your old pack back into service for someone who needs it at home or abroad. You'll also be keeping your old pack out of a landfill and help the planet at the same time. We also told you about the need for the ClimbHigh women to have sleeping bags in this issue. Now that ClimbHigh has made the effort to blaze the trail and find employment and training for these Ugandan women, we need to help outfit them for the task. As was the case with your pack, you are keeping your old sleeping bag out of the landfill and helping our planet too. Building on the two ideas above, The Mountain Fund has reserved the URL's for www.Gear4Good.org and www.Gear4Good.com. With help from our industry partners, we aim to offer up the opportunity to have all of your used outdoor gear wind up supporting good causes and getting a second life with people who really need it. In the U.S., there are dozens of at-risk youth outdoor programs who can use packs, sleeping bags, boots, outerwear, hats and gloves. Porter programs in Nepal, Peru and Tanzania always need good sturdy gear. Search and rescue teams in developing countries need the same. Turn your out-of-date apparel into something good - yes, send us that green and pink Gore-tex jacket you wore in the '80s along with that screaming yellow Colorado suit you used to ice climb in. Last year's hot trail running shoes are much needed by porters, as well as those way out-of-date plastic boots you are still climbing in. The Mountain Fund will find second homes for your used gear, and if we can't, we'll list it on our E-bay charity auction site and turn it into cash to support all of our programs. We are actively seeking industry partners to help us launch a full-scale program to recycle the tons of used outdoor gear that is going to landfills instead of to good causes. If your company would like to pioneer this project with us. Please contact mtnfund@mountainfund.org Your Cause-related Marketing Budget Scott Why The Mountain Fund is your best buy. cause market With the Outdoor Retailer Show coming up this week we thought we should do a follow up to last issue's article called "Building a better playground." In that article, we highlighted the response by consumers to cause-related marketing as reported in a coleection of studies. The results were: * 8 in 10 Americans say corporate support of causes wins their trust in that company. * 86% of Americans are likely to switch brand allegiance to one associated with a charitable cause. * 72% of Americans prefer working for a company that supports charities. Clearly, cause-related marketing and partnerships with socially responsible causes adds value to your products. Below, we will demonstrate why The Mountain Fund represents the best option for your cause-related marketing dollars. When compared to the other leading charities supported by the Outdoor Industry, The Mountain Fund reaches a far more diverse consumer market with a globally reaching cause. First, the case for The Mountain Fund: * Demographic reach covers entire outdoor industry, including climbers, hikers, backpackers and international travelers. * Geographic reach includes several domestic programs and nearly 30 programs in 11 countries. * Topic/Cause appeal: the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, women's equality, healthcare, children and at- risk youth, education, environmental and cultural preservation, wildlife, human rights, responsible tourism, micro-finance, outdoor gear recycling and outdoor search and rescue support. The other leading charitable causes supported primarily by the Outdoor Industry: * Demographic: Narrow subset of the Outdoor Industry; climbers only. * Geographic: U.S. interest only * Topic/Cause: Issues commonly of relevance to climbers only; even then, only certain narrow issues. So, for you companies reading this at O.R., go have a word with your marketing department. If you want to reach more people, associate with more causes and expand your reach globally, The Mountain Fund can make your marketing dollars work harder for you. Visit our site today to learn more about us. Newsletter Sponsor dan mazur This newsletter is brought to you through the generous team at Dan Mazur's SummitClimb.com. Vist SummitClimb today Climber's Alert Network - UPDATE new climb aid Climbers' Alert Network takes it's first action. A couple of weeks ago, an event was held in Telluride to commemorate the lives of Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff. Climbers' Alert Network via The Mountain Fund was very pleased to be able to pay the cost of airfare for members of Charlie's and Chritine's family to attend the event and witness the friendships and the community that Charlie and Chris were part of. This is how it should be. We are a community. Contact Information email: mtnfund@mountainfund.org phone: 800-743-1929 web: http://www.mountainfund.org Quote
Dechristo Posted September 18, 2007 Author Posted September 18, 2007 August 2007 The Mountain Fund Newsletter The best news on the planet Greetings! Success with Peru Medical Camp Small loans empower poverty-stricken Peruvians Trek to help build clinic Streaking the OR Show, Heidi Wirtz Slide Show Tour, Medical Lab a Reality, SAE partnership, Adventure Engine, the New Trek4Good, and more! Enjoy the best news on the planet and don't forget to visit our web site often as we are constantly updating the information there to bring you the most up-to-date information about the activities of The Mountain Fund and all of our partner organizations. Medical Camp in Peru Treats over 350 Phase One - The School at Huilloc. Because of a compelling request made by the nonprofit Reach Out Foundation (ROF), The Mountain Fund took a group of volunteers (who paid for their expenses) to Peru in order to administer general medical services to 350 Quechua people of Huilloc and Patacancha. People in this region have little or no health care, explained Anne Schimmel Beck, the President of ROF. "The children never see a doctor and have yet to see a dentist." Within minutes of the team's arrival to the remote village of Huilloc, they were overrun with patients. "It was incredible," said Scott MacLennan. "At times up to 30 or perhaps 40 people were camped on the school grounds waiting to see our medical staff." The team gathered vital statistics on each person, ascertained the problem, and then sent critical cases to the lead doctor, Claudia Delgado-Corcoran, and less serious ones to public health lectures, where they learned about basic health tools (brushing teeth, boiling water, etc). Thirty people were provided with glasses, and people were treated for everything from dysentery, broken bones, infected teeth, and cataracts to frostbite due to the high altitude. "Like true warriors, the medical team refused to wrap up until all the patients had been seen," said MacLennan. "It was difficult to get them to take time to eat or drink!" And the team didn't stop there. After Huilloc, they visited Patacancha, a small village 30 minutes up the road where their small clinic is administered by a local woman from Urubamba who walks three hours a few days per week to the clinic. "In one day some 80 people visited the Patacancha clinic and were given complete medical care by our team," MacLennan stated. "The lines were so long that at times it was nearly impossible to move from one exam room to the other." See all the photos here. Peru Part Two Microfinance Program Making a Difference in Cusco anikuy Last October, The Mountain Fund and its Cuzco-based partner, Yure Chavez, started a new micro-finance program in Peru. Named Aynikuy, which means, "to help each other to cooperate" in Quechua, this program has helped approximately 30 families. "Street vendors do not have easy access to needed capital to purchase inventory or to expand and improve their businesses," explained Chavez. "Banks ask for collateral, which people do not have, or they charge interest rates that are too high (15-20%)." Aynikuy offers these vendors low-interest (5-7%) loans, and it sets up educational programs that help them to improve their restaurant, grocery, newspaper, or hardware businesses. So far, added Chavez, only a very small percentage of people have defaulted on their loans. According to Scott MacLennan, TMF's Executive Director, these small loans make all the difference in the world to people living in a country where 54% of the population lives below poverty, making less than $2.00 a day. Aynikuy currently needs additional funding to establish a permanent loan fund of $5000. So far funding has come primarily from The Mountain Fund and an $820 donation made by Gregory Frux. For more information or to donate, please TMF's Anikuy page. Streaking at the OR Show ! Thanks to Montrail & Mountain Hardwear To be honest, no one ran naked through the Salt Palace. Instead, to kick off the premiere of their new running shoe, Montrail, along with Mountain Hardwear, sponsored a pledge-to-run event to benefit The Mountain Fund. We'd like to extend our thanks to such fine and supportive sponsors. Heidi Wirtz Slide Show Tour--Climbing In The Muslim World North Face athlete Heidi Wirtz will be doing a national slide show tour to raise funds and awareness for Girls Education International, the nonprofit she co-founded with writer Lizzy Scully. Join Heidi as she takes you on an adventure into the Islamic world of North Africa, Southern Asia, and the Middle East. To read more about the event and to see when Heidi will be in your area, please visit: http://girlseducationinternational.blogspot.com/ 2007/08/heidi-wirtz-slide-show-tour-benefit-for.html. To see photos: http:// girlseducationinternational.blogspot.com/2007/08/ heidi-wirtz-slide-show-tour-photos.html For more information on the show, please visit the Girls Ed blog. Medical Lab A Reality Grant will build the only medical lab in remote area of Nepal. The America Nepal Medical Foundation recently awarded The Mountain Fund a grant to construct and install the first and only medical lab for the remote villages of Gatlang, Goljung, and Chillime. The lab will be constructed at the Karing for Kids mother and child health clinic and will allow the staff to do more accurate diagnostic work. The clinic currently serves about 7,000 people. TMF is the primary source of funding for this clinic. For more information, please visit TMF's Karing for Kids page. Gear4Good Making the Outdoors Availible & Saving the Environment For many people around the world social and economic conditions have prevented participation in outdoor activities. For some it has been a matter of custom, class or gender that has barred access. For others the way has been blocked because obtaining the equipment needed is beyond their economic ability. Mountain Fund and our Gear4Good program are changing that. The picture at the top of this article is Gear4Good in action at home. The daypack on the back of the bicyclist came from the Gear4Good donations. Those kids are participants in Outdoor Outreach a program in San Diego that gives some of the poorest kids, from the toughest neighborhoods the experience of outdoor sports. For many of those kids it is a life-changing moment. With your help and support we can continue to provide assistance and equipment to those whom might otherwise never have an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, something you and I take for granted. We continue to need good used equipment and we need your donations of dollars as well. Shipping gear to those who need it can be costly. Please don't let good gear sit in our office waiting for a few dollars to put it in a box and send it off. Make a donation today. Thanks. Learn more about Outdoor Outreach Here. Mountain Fund Volunteers to Build Clinic in Nepal Three years in the planning, ground breaking this fall ! If this picture looks familiar to you it is because last year The Mountain Fund used this picture in a story about the dream Bhunima Lama had of building a health clinic in his village at Thulo Syabru, Nepal. The photograph is of Bhunima's wife and their child. After his wife was very ill and had to be rushed to Kathmandu, a considerable journey away, Bhunima knew that his village needed a clinic. TMF volunteers began discussing that idea more than two years ago. Now, thanks to Bhunima's persistence and the help of TMF's members and readers that clinic is about to become a reality. In November, The Mountain Fund will host a volunteer work camp in Thulo Syabru. Working side- by-side with the villagers TMF volunteers will begin to construct the clinic that Bhunima dreamed of. For more information on joining this two week trek to Langtang and the working camp at Thulo Syabru, please contact mtnfund@mountainfund.org, or visit Trek4Good.org, our charity trek web site. Tailor-Made Search Engine For Mountain Lovers The Mountain Fund recently partnered with the search engine company, SearchEngineCorp.com, to create MountainSearch.org, a branded search engine that will generate awareness and funding for TMF projects. Fifty percent of the profits from this advertiser-supported search engine will go directly to TMF. Over the past few months, news of this search engine has been published in SNEWS, Rock & Ice and Backpacker magazine, and Forbes.com. To read more about this, please visit Forbes.com's site. Join The Next TMF Nepal Medical Camp TMF Needs Funds for 2008 Moving Medical Camp in Nepal Trip The Mountain Fund has organized a moving medical camp to provide basic healthcare and medical treatment and to begin to survey and collect data needed to ascertain the long-term health and public health needs of rural villages in Nepal. The TMF volunteer medical team will trek deep into the rural countryside on the Tamang Heritage Trail, bringing along the equipment and supplies needed to conduct several health clinics. The trip will occur October 11-24, 2008. $5000 in funding for medical supplies is still needed. To donate, please visit TMF's medical camp web page. Community Service TMF Style Explore Himalaya Community Service Program Joins The Mountain Fund Explore Himalaya Community Service Program (EHCSP) recently partnered up with The Mountain Fund. EHCSP runs a variety of programs, including the Each One, Teach One project, which seeks to provide school level education to children affected by the conflict in Nepal. Funds collected by TMF for EHCSP will go directly toward monthly scholarships to conflict-affected children through high school graduation. Suman Pandey is the president of this organization. He also runs the gear shop, Yak Trek and Mountain Gear (to visit the shop's website, go to: www.trekkinggearsnepal.com). For more information on the program, please visit ExploreHimalaya.com. Volunteer Program in Nepal a Success German Philipp Denzinger wanted hands-on experience in order to prepare himself for his master's degree in project planning and management, but he couldn't find an organization in Nepal that didn't charge its volunteers money. However, he stated, "when I went into the office of The Mountain Fund in Kathmandu and expressed my wish for my own project, I got told that basically anything I wanted to do was possible." Denzinger spent 10 weeks from June through August, 2007, working on two projects: the establishment of The Mountain Fund Volunteer Visitor Center in Nepal and creating a project plan to improve the Karing For Kids clinic in the Langtang area. Americans, Philip and Stephanie Heinegg, also donated their time to the Karing For Kids clinic by participating in a Health Camp during the month of April 2007. During the trip they saw 170 patients over three days. "The trip gave me a good insight as to what a well-developed clinic can do for its surrounding villages," Stephanie Heinegg explained. "It was pure and simple delightful fun," added Dr. Philip Heinegg. "The people at the clinic as well as the patients were so beautiful. I could have stayed there for weeks." Irishman, Diarmuid Smyth, and Brit, Jane Bomber, connected with various children's projects by contacting with The Mountain Fund Volunteer Visitor Center. Diarmuid spent five weeks over the summer working at the Orphan Help Centre (OHC) and the Nepal Society for the Disabled. "My time at the OHC was a fascinating experience," he explained. "It was a privilege to be invited into this environment, to experience the local lifestyle, to learn about the reality of life here, and to see how people manage to keep upbeat regardless." Bomber spent four months teaching part-time English at a secondary school and volunteering at a Child Protection Home in Kathmandu, April through July. She gained excellent teaching experience at the school, and, she added, "both of my volunteer placements were extremely worthwhile; there was not a single day when I did not look forward to going in!" All volunteers agreed that The Mountain Fund was extremely helpful. "I was given a full orientation at the school and told what to expect," stated Bomber. "The staff are always on hand to answer any questions I had about the placement and volunteering." TMF Raises Money for Mt. Everest Foundation The Mountain Fund raised money for the Mount Everest Foundation for Sustainable Development this summer as a memorial and tribute to a young man who suddenly passed away while climbing in Nepal. For more information, please visit TMF. Support Our Programs Caring for the planet and the people living on it can't happen without your support. All of the programs and partners presented in this issue depend on your help. Please make a donation today. Click the image above and give generously. No money? Ok, there's something important and very helpful you can do. Forward this e-newsletter to a few friends and invite them to learn about The Mountain Fund. You like us; they will too. To foward this email to your friends, please click here. Upcoming Newsletters! Spring- The Women's Issue will feature our women's programs and included feature articles by Lizzy Scully, Lucky Chhetri and more. Summer- The Summer Issue. Don't miss any of these issues. Be sure to tell your friends, family and co-workers to sign up today for our newsletter. Special note to our corporate supporters - The three upcoming issues will be important for your employees to read. You suppport us, make sure your employees know what your support is doing. Get them to sign up today for The Mountain Fund News ! Newsletter Sponsor dan mazur This newsletter is brought to you by the generous team at Dan Mazur's SummitClimb.com. Visit SummitClimb today NEW! The Mountain Fund Membership Your support of The Mountain Fund makes an important statement about the social responsibility you and/or your company are demonstrating and your ongoing commitment to give something back to the world's mountainous regions and the people living in them. Now, for $30 to $70, you can join as a supporting member and access a variety of TMF services, including free Nepali language classes at TMF Volunteer Visitor Center and use of the Center, plus a huge list of services provided by South American Explorers. Or, for $250 to $500, you can become a corporate member and access the above- mentioned TMF benefits and get your corporation's name listed on all TMF promotional materials. Check out the Search Explorers Benefits by clicking here! Coming This Winter! Watch this newsletter for an important announcement about The Mountain Fund and South American Explorers. The world will soon be open to you! Contact Information email: mtnfund@mountainfund.org phone: 505-349-4971 web: http://www.mountainfund.org Join our mailing list! - - Your Own Mountain Fund Web Site - FREE You can have a Mountain Fund web site of your very own, and it is totally FREE! Help us help the people of the mountains. FREE WEB SITE - - - - FREE Mountain Fund e-mail account Welcome to The Mountain Fund's free email service for Mountain Fund supporters. As a supporter, you can sign up for a FREE mountainfund.net email account in order to be identified as a supporter during your correspondence with your friends or colleagues. The sign-up process should only take a few minutes. Thanks for supporting The Mountain Fund! Check it out now... - - - - Good Companies and Good Deeds - They naturally go together. The Mountain Fund is supported in part by caring companies who offer the best outdoor products and services in the world. Please support these fine companies and thank them for helping improve the lives of people living in the world's mountainous regions and the mountain environments. Mountain Fund Sponsors - Companies who care about social responsibility: * Mountain Hardwear * Montrail * SummitClimb * Prana * Mountain Madness * National Outdoor Leadership School * Patagonia * GetBeta.com * Rockclimbing.com * Himalayan Trekking * Climbing Magazine * Rock and Ice Magazine * Osprey Packs * Outdoor Prolink * EverestNews * Alpinist Magazine * Suntoucher Mountain Guides * OnTop Mountaineering * Mountain World Photography * 3 Sisters Adventure * Kahtoola Great supporters and friends of The Mountain Fund: Anna Pettigrew Photography, The Mountain Forum, Simple Impact Web Design, Harvard Mountaineering Club, The Russian Way, The Aerialistas, Hotel Tibet, DonationDoubler.com, and Christian Piccoilini. Please Give Them Your Business - - Quote
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