Introduction

Welcome to the Mountain Trust online. We are an unusual organisation (registered as a charity in the UK and as an NGO in Nepal). We are a member of Cambridge University's Humanitarian Centre and have the Support of Michael Palin, Lord Wilson of Dinton (Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge & former Cabinet Secretary) and many others. We concentrate on pioneering advances in education and health in Nepal - so if you review this site, you'll soon see that we have made significant strides towards these goals.

Our work has been covered in the Himalayas Nepal magazine, two Cambridge Humanitarian Centre Reports on innovations in international development - as well as widely in the national media in Nepal. (See, for example, our pages covering Progress and Publications.)

We began ten years ago by building schools, child care centres, orphanages and community centres - but grew rapidly dissatisfied since these did not offer more than a sticking plaster solution to the problems. We have since spent the same amount as it took to build a school serving 200 Students for ten years on broadcasting to over 44,000 Students on radio per year.

Mountain Trust Sponsors support around 100 Nepali Students who would otherwise be excluded from access to education. The Trust provides regular feedback on Students' progress. Our Sponsors have literally changed lives.

Here a Secondary Level Student is listening to a Radio Guru lesson broadcast to the Mid-Western region of Nepal each evening for 30 minutes. Our aim is to scale up the poject, covering the first year at Primary Level right through to the end of Secondary Level (and some adult education). We aim to demonstrate the model works and for it to be replicated elsewhere in the 'Developing World'. Broadcasting top quality lessons by radio overcomes the following obstacles:

Inability to afford school fees, uniform & books.
Weak Teacher Training & the costs & inevitable time lag in upgrading standards.
Economic pressures for children to work to keep the family fed.
Weak transport infrastructure & frequency of landslides.
14 hours a day load shedding.
The requirement of literacy to benefit.
Long walks during the Monsoon season to and from school.
The expense of building Schools, transport and paying well trained Teachers.

We have converted a donated Land Rover into a modern Ambulance and shipped it to Nepal to serve many hundreds of patients without charge in partnership with Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara.

We have established an office in Pokhara, Nepal which has been donated by a local businessman. We have also appointed a part-time Administrative Officer, Mr Kisan Gurung, to facilitate logistics for Volunteers and Interns in Nepal and other aspects of our work.

We are also assisting a high altitude genetics study. We are working closely with University College, London and others on a high altitude genetics study into Hypoxia (with implications for intensive and maternal treatments worldwide). We also enjoy partnerships with Addenbrooke's Abroad (sending medics to assist from Cambridge), Brunel University's Careers Service and the Institute for Democracy & Conflict Resolution.

The Trust recruits able and commited Volunteers and Interns from all walks of life to assist our work in the UK and in Nepal. Our flexible and tailor-designed assignments are popular and this side of our work is growing rapidly.

You will find more information on what we do throughought this site. If you have any questions or would like further details or would like to help, please use the Contact Us page.