Introduction

Welcome to the UK section of the site. Since the Mountain Trust is registered in both the UK and Nepal, we have split the site between both organisations.

The Mountain Trust is improving the lives of people in the hardest hit parts of Nepal. Riverbed children as young as 18 months are taught to crush stones into sand and carry it for sale to construction sites. They get no education or health-care and live on a subsistence diet. The women suffer from treading on sharp stones and their feet being constantly wet. Here, two of our medical student volunteers (Rhiannon Evans & Dana Khoriati) are giving a free health and hygeine class to children and their families working in the riverbeds.

They were unaware that simple remedies such as cream and talcum powder could make such a difference. In this riverbed, the Mountain Trust treated two children and sponsored nine to go to school. It also arranged and paid for the treatment of one of the riverbed grandfathers, who suffered from leprosy.

The Trust plans to distribute wind-up radio receivers to the riverbed communities so that they can receive the best education Nepal has to offer for the first time.

The Trust provides school blocks, furniture, uniforms, teaching & sports equipment to primary and secondary schools in the more disadvantaged sector of Nepal's educational system. The Trust purchases all the materials and labour in Nepal so that it's assistance benefits the country twice over (unskilled labour, eg carrying gravel, is done voluntarily by villagers whilst we fund skilled labour if required). All contracts are approved on the basis of at least three tenders.

The Trust supports women and low caste villagers in defining the local priorities for support and managing their provision. We provide buildings etc. for adult literacy, family planning, health awareness, clean water supplies and childcare centres. We ensure that there is evidence to show the land on which a project is to be built is publicly owned and we sign a contract with the community's representatives to be clear that budget over-runs are the village's responsibility. Support is given according to needs and funds available.

Health & Manipal Teaching Hospital

The Trust works with Manipal Hospital in the Pokhara Valley where the medical staff give their time free and the Trust pays for drugs, bandages & other consumables necessary for treatment. One woman literally dragged herself to Manipal by her hands. Her legs had been wasteing and she had no money or anyone to take care of her. The Trust covered the MRI scan and Dr Cherion removed a large tumour from her spine. She is recovering well.

Khagisara Aryal from Belbhariya, Nepal had no hope. She'd a large brain tumour which was interfering with her capacity to reason. We covered the costs of her MRI scan, the consumables for her operation and transport, accommodation and food. She made a full recovery and with the Trust's help is now self-supporting - running her own tailoring shop. Here she is on the phone after the operation, letting her friends know she was doing well. Khagisara could not even dream of marriage before our intervention - but now she's got a chance.

The Trust has helped many people too poor to afford treatment - ranging from brain and spinal tumours, through people caught in road accidents and requiring amputation (illustrated) to cases involving immobility, leprosy, bronchitis and so on. The Doctors at Manipal are struggling against the odds. The Trust is currently working on a mobile medical outreach and education service - and on shipping used medical equipment from hospitals in the UK to their counterparts in Nepal. (Dr Cherion & Dr Panhani have been great supporters).

Very roughly, it costs around £500 to build a classroom, around £325 to build a toilet block, around £150 to dig a well and about £25 for a desk and bench (wooden plank in steel frames) which seats 4 - 5 pupils, depending on their age. Uniforms, dictionaries, chess sets and other similar items are obviously less. To put a child who could not otherwise afford an education through school costs just £40 a year.

If you can help, for example by raising donations, finding sponsors, transferring skills (eg organising trips for nurses or teachers to spend their holiday training people in Nepal etc., teaching basic English) or in any other ways, please get in touch with us. You can find out more by following the links on the left.