A few days ago a friend of mine sent (mass emailed, but he’s forgiven) some detail about his latest upcoming philanthropic trip to the Himalayas. He has let me reproduce his email verbatim here.

Yup it’s me and I have some news,

I am off on a small journey to the Himalayan Mountains in a couple of months and I need a little help. I plan to spend 3-4 months (maybe more if need be) in a rural village in Nepal doing some volunteer work with the school there, and also around the village itself. I will be working in conjunction with an existing small Canadian charity that helps with the running of the school. The village itself is far away from any road let alone a town and thus is self reliant on most aspects of daily life.

My role will involve helping the School by teaching staff and children on various aspects of technology. I plan to try and improve the current network and provide more exposure to computers/internet to the people which they can user for their respective benefit. I also will be involved in the wireless connectivity project which aims to connect as many of the villages to the Internet and thus the rest of the world. Might even teach a bit of Maths/English if I feel able enough

There is plenty to do, but like all things they cost money. I can fund my trip myself and my stay there, but there are requirements for resources like Books, Computers, Wireless equipment and all that costs money. Since it is a volunteer project I want to be able to help build their current capacity to develop by providing useful assets. This is why I am approaching you to help me do the best I can for the students and people of this village while I am there. If you are keen on giving a small contribution it will be much appreciated, remember no contribution is too small.

Click on the Link and it will take you my Volunteer Site.

http://www.anukoolsathu.webs.com/volunteeringinnepal.htm

Sincerely appreciate your help,

Anukool

So inshort, he’ll be volunteering with with an NGO helping to run a school in a village called Nangi. Nangi is located at 7400feet above sealevel and has no access to roads, a 9 hour (at best case) hike is the fastest way of getting there. This NGO, Himanchal Education Fund is run by a local Nepalese teacher and has been featured on the BBC years ago.

Several mates who have been to the Himalayas have all been back to help and volunteer. There must be a certain magic about the place and I am keen to take it all in when I visit towards the start of next year. And it’ll be extra brilliant as i’ll have my brother who would have been there for a couple of years by then to show me the sights.