The Share the Load Foundation

Volunteering and charitable work in Nepal

Nepalese Children
The Share the Load Foundation began as a way to promote the wellbeing of Himalayan mountain porters and to improve their overall working conditions. Porters form a large part of the backbone of the trekking industry and as a whole is a worthy profession for the many men and women that work in this field.

As our Foundation has progressed our focus has shifted towards development in rural and mountain communities, such as education and infrastructure development, not wholly just the wellbeing of the porter community.

Trekking throughout the Himalaya and through remote villages brings you face to face with harsh mountain living. We decided that we wouldn’t be able to operate as a responsible tour and trekking company without giving back to the communities we love so much.

Aims
Mandali
How You Can Help
Photos
Updates
Video
Shree Krishna

Our Aims

From the very beginning, we have ensured that our employees and porters and anyone else that we have direct interactions with are treated fairly, looked after well and paid a decent wage. What had started as a company working to the guidelines of the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) had now turned into a fully blown charity, aptly named The Share the Load Foundation.

Initially our aims were to provide support, clothing and equipment to porters and their families but this has evolved over the course of the last few years.

Our main objective is to work in conjunction with local communities to further their development and to assist with infrastructure development, such as medical facilities and running water pumps and promote viable educational resources (such as the re-building of schools and training of teachers).

This objective has been ever so more important after the devastating effects of the earthquake that hit Nepal on the 25th April 2015. We hope that with your help, we will be able to achieve our goals. This is why for every set departure tour to Asia we sell, 1% of the trip price will be donated to our charity.

The Share the Load Foundation are also pleased to be supporting two schools:

The Mandali Primary School in the remote Nepalese village of Baluwa. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas and in the heart of the Ghorka region, Baluwa is off the beaten track, far from the classic tourist trail. It is also KP’s home village.

The Shree Krishna Primary School in the remote district of Shirkhabesi VDC, Nuwakot, Nepal. This school was completely destroyed in the earthquake. The Share the Load Foundation is funding its rebuild, which is commencing 6th December 2015. Please see our UPDATES section for more information.

Support Something Personal to You

We believe that charity can be an adventure. If you want to kick-start your own charity challenge or event, check out our Challenges and Events for Charity and start fundraising for your chosen cause now.

Mandali School

Lost Earth Adventures and our not-for-profit organisation, The Share the Load Foundation are pleased to be supporting the Mandali Primary School in the remote Nepalese village of Baluwa. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas and in the heart of the Ghorka region, Baluwa is off the beaten track, far from the classic tourist trail. It is also KP’s home village.

The village is lacking in infrastructure and did not even have running water facilities until we installed a water collection tank for the community. Every day villagers used to walk for over an hour each way to ensure they had water. The majority of families work as farmers and survive off of as little as £3.50/day. For many, there is no other option but to keep the children from school so that they can work the land. Despite the hardship there is a great sense of community pride, passion and spirit!

The Mandali Primary School, which is the only school in the region, is also in serious need of a library, text books, calculators and the basic supplies needed for children to learn.

The Share the Load Foundation was originally started to distribute clothing, sunglasses and outdoor trekking equipment to our porters, their families and communities while trekking, after seeing first hand the conditions that they so often live in. This grassroots initiative has now expanded to include other deprived areas of Nepal and to not only provide clothing and trekking equipment, but also to assist in the educational development of school children.

Click here to find out how you can volunteer at the school.

How can you help?

Nepal Earthquake Fundraising

Since the catastrophic earthquake on April 25th we have been raising money in a number of ways, here are a few ways you can donate to our appeal:

Donate money using the donate button below or via BACS payment to Share the Load Foundation, Barclays bank, address 1-3 Parliament Street, York, North Yorkshire, YO1 8SE, England, account number: 40199664, sort code: 209956 IBAN: GB51BARC20995640199664 SWIFT: BARCGB22
When you come one of our tours please bring any educational supplies, sporting equipment or old clothes with you. Or contact us to see how we can distribute items in Nepal for you.
Plan a fundraiser or challenge event with proceeds going towards the Share the Load Foundation. Lost Earth Adventures can provide guidance, pledge sheets and promote your event through our social media channels. Please get in touch with us for more details.

What will we use the money for?

100% of your donation will go directly towards the relief effort in Nepal, reaching vulnerable and remote mountain villages (providing safe drinking water, food and shelter) as well as rebuilding the Shree Krishna Primary School. Time and costs for administration are covered by Lost Earth Adventures.

Photos

Click on the arrows below to take see some of our charity work and projects in Nepal.

Work In Progress

Work to date:

April 2012 - Ran a teeth cleaning program at the Mandali Primary School, donated books, pens, sporting equipment and class room materials.

November 2012 - Donated 100 jumpers to help the pupils get through the harsh winter. Took boxes of classroom equipment from our generous donors as well as kitting out 4 porters in high quality outdoor clothing.

2013 - Raised £1400 towards building a sustainable piped water source to the village of Beluwa and distributed countless bags of clothing, school equipment and footwear from our clients.

January 2015 – we constructed a clean drinking water tank, ensuring that the villagers don’t have to go on a dangerous journey to collect their water.

April 2015 – On the 25th April 2015 an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit the Gorkha region in Nepal. The effects of this earthquake lasting only a few moments, has been devastating for a country we know and love so well. At the time of writing more than 8500 people have died. On the 12th May there was an aftershock of 7.3 which can only be described as an aftershock when in comparison to the first mammoth quake. The effects of these devastating earthquakes will be longstanding without external aid and support.

We matched client donations and sent £1300 to Nepal. Money was used to provide immediate relief to those affected close to the Langtang region, providing emergency food rations and temporary shelters.

June 2015 – Abseil for Nepal, Charity Fundraiser with Climber Jonny Dawes – In June we raised over £3000 towards rebuilding the Shree Krishna Primary School in Nepal. The one-day event saw us abseiling the height of Kathmandu (1500m) at Stanage Edge in the Peak District. The event was also supported by prolific climber, Jonny Dawes whom taught our supporters the fine art of climbing “no handed.”

December 2015 – Started delivering building materials to the Shree Krishna Primary School

January 2016 - We have reached our goal and raised the £8000 needed and work is well underway. The Shree Krishna Primary School now has its foundation! Thank you so much to all of you that have helped so far. Read our blog post about rebuilding the school.

April 2016 - The school is completely finished and children are inside learning. Thank you to all that helped build these children a safe place to learn.

April 2018 - The Share the Load Foundation supplied some sports equipment to the Shree Krishna Primary School and 6 other schools in the area. We thought that this would bring people together, keep them active and encourage them to come to school, as school is an "optional" activity in Nepal. It seemed to put some smiles on their faces and they started to play with it straight away. A little bit of money can go a long way in providing happiness.

NCRR (Nepal Cyclists Ride to Rescue) board member and previous Cross Country Mountain Bike Champion of Nepal, Roan Tamang also kindly donated 2 days of his time to help Lost Earth Adventures' Director Richard Goodey, organise the purchase and delivery of 10 office chairs, 2 office desks, 1 large cupboard, 500 excercise books, 500 pens, 500 pencils, text books on maths, English, Nepali and hygiene, 55 educational hanging wall displays for teaching geography, 7 world maps, 7 Nepal maps, 2 world globes, 120 whiteboard markers, 12 board erasers, 12 staplers, 12 rolls cello-tape, a volley ball net, 2 volley balls, 3 footballs, 12 shuttle cocks, 6 badminton rackets, 4 ball pumps, 7 calculators, 100 rulers and 20 skipping ropes. They also employed 3 men and a truck from the local area, 1 rickshaw in Kathmandu and some porters from Sikhar Besi.

Work moving forward:

We are now raising money for classroom equipment and school uniforms. If you'd like to help support this remote little school then donations are very welcome. Thank you.

Please visit the "How Can You Help" tab to find out the best way to help Nepal.

Video

2 short films about our charity work in Nepal

Rebuilding Shree Krishna Primary School

The Shree Krishna Primary School is located in the remote and tough to reach area of Shirkhabesi VDC, Nuwakot, Nepal. It is at the base of the Langtang Region in the Himalaya and for most of the year can only be reached by foot and cycling trails.

This entire area was devastated by the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in April and May 2015. Immediately after the earthquake we worked with local NGO’s to get emergency supplies to this area, including providing food rations and emergency shelters.

Shree Krishna Primary School was completely destroyed and for 7 months, the 40 students and their teachers had been learning in temporary shelters, underneath tarpaulin and corrugated iron walls. This was not an ideal or long-term solution.

The Share the Load Foundation and Lost Earth Adventures worked with local NGO, Nepal Cyclists Ride to Rescue (NCRR), as part of their 7-Schools in 7-Weeks Campaign. NCRR is comprised of members from the Nepali Mountain Bike Team and were some of the first people to reach this area post-earthquake. We’ve been lucky to work with these guys for the past 6 years.

After meeting with the NCRR as well as residents, local leaders, and school principals, we learned that long-term relief in the area required the rebuilding of 1 secondary and 6 primary schools.

We sponsored the rebuilding of Shree Krishna Primary School, a project that cost $10,000

Construction began on the 7th December 2015 and was finished in April 2016. The project employed local tradesman, engineers and workers. For the most part we used materials sourced from the local area. The school is built to be structurally resistant to further earthquakes/tremors.

You can see a short film documenting the rebuild of the school.

Why a School?
Nepali schools are an important part of advancing this developing nation because they provide kids with a safe place to pursue their education. When properly built with full cooperation from the local community, schools can also serve as community centers and safe houses from natural disasters.