Volunteering

The creation of an association

The increase of climbers coming to the Himalaya for summiting the highest mountains of the Earth, has given the opportunity to many Sherpas to work for them during their expeditions. Even though the climbing Sherpas/high altitude porters are earning much more than a Nepali’s annual salary when they participate in an expedition, the risks taken are without doubt incomparable and many Sherpas have died since the first expeditions started in the early 1920.

Norbu Sherpa, as a Sirdar and well-known climbing Sherpa, has lost numerous friends in the Himalaya these past years. He is aware of the difficulties and problems faced by the widows and close family members after the death of their husband, son or father. He has been faced with the deep sorrow and desperation of these families, their doubts about continuing the education of their children, and ensuring basic needs such as feeding the family and maintaining adequate life conditions after such tragedies.

Numerous Sherpas have moved with their wife and children from their village in the Himalaya to the city of Kathmandu to pursue opportunities to find a job as a climbing Sherpa. So doing they can offer their children the opportunity to receive an education, which is unavailable in their villages, where sometimes there is no access to school. However this means a change in lifestyle, especially for the women who are often uneducated and therefore have great difficulty finding a job in the city, whereas they had their own farming activities and production in their village. To return to the village after a tragedy, means interrupting the children education and cutting short their professional potential. Even if they decide to follow the steps of their father, education plays a fundamental role.

We, Norbu Sherpa and Andrea Sherpa-Zimmermann, take heart in supporting these wives and their children, in order to offer the opportunity to the children to pursue their education and for those who wish to work in mountaineering, to help them after their elementary school to obtain specific mountain training, which is unaffordable to the majority of the climbing Sherpas. Each year, Sherpas perish while they work hard and take high risks in fixing ropes, securing the mountain, carrying heavy loads and preparing routes for the expeditions of Western climbers. The pressure of earning good money, in order to feed their families and pay the school fees of their children overrides their lack of adequate mountain training and poor or non-existent social security.

By participating in one of our Expeditions, including Peak climbing or Trekking or by making a donation, you help us to achieve our goal: to help the families of the disappeared heroes of the Himalaya to go on with their lives and offer their children access to education, which has an immeasurable value

We express our heartfelt thanks for your generosity!

Contact

Our bank account:

Bank RAIFFEISEN
THE BUTTERFLY HELP-PROJECT
IBAN: CH18 8060 6000 0017 9972 4
SWIFT: RAIFCH22
Rte du Chablais, 1869 Massongex, Switzerland