The purpose of our trek in 2012 was to raise funds to rebuild one of
the school buildings for the village; US$11,000 was raised and the new building
was completed by the villagers. Rotary
also contributed to a water supply feed scheme for the village in the recent
past. Pem has a history with
Rotary, placing the Rotary flag on the top of Mt Everest in Rotary’s centenary year
and also appearing at the international convention in that year. He has also
been the instigator and fundraiser for many of the development and improvement
projects carried out in the village.
Pem was made a Paul
Harris Fellow by RCPN in 2013.
The recent
earthquake has caused significant damage to the new school building and other existing ones,
as well as the water supply infrastructure. RCPN has decided to support this village in
the aftermath of the earthquake and have been in touch with Pem Sherpa to see
what is required. You can view the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcp3In25AA
Pem has initially estimated a cost of
possibly US$30,000 - 40,000 to get things back on track, however we will need a
little more time to get more detailed information.
In order to support this kind of
fundraising we want to apply for a Rotary district grant and also potentially a
global grant, which should enable us to more than double whatever money we can
pull together. If we can work together as clubs there could be the opportunity
to maximise the amounts receivable from RI. We will also ask Pem to nominate a Nepal based Rotary club to connect
with as this is a requirement of a global grant.
In our discussions about how best to
proceed, we determined that there are a number of other international agencies
which are better funded and prepared for an immediate response to disasters
like this. By targeting our assistance to the people and children of Chyangba
will, we believe, enable us to make a real difference with the funds we can
generate.
On behalf of RCPN, we are
asking your club to join us and assist in
raising this money for the
people of Chyangba village. We are hopeful of
having a starting fund of $8,000 to be used for the more immediate projects but
will look to enlarge that quickly through online giving and donations from
clubs such as yours. Donations can be made via our Charitable Trust https://givealittle.co.nz/org/rotaryportnicholson
Thank you for considering this request. We hope you will support this
important cause.
Yours in Rotary
