Everest summiteer, Sherpa Tendi came all the way from the Himalayas to Glion to share stories from the “Top of the World” and raise funds for Forward for Nepal.
The Gorkha Earthquake
In April 2015 an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.8Mw hit Nepal. It was known as Gorkha Earthquake and it killed over 8,000 people and injured more than 21,000 citizens. The earthquake ravaged Nepal and many houses were destroyed and damaged. This violent earthquake also took everything from many Nepalese families; their houses, their souvenirs, their loved ones and everything that they owned.
To make more people aware of the devastation caused by the earthquake, and promote the ongoing efforts to rebuild the infrastructures in Nepal, I decided to invite Sherpa Tendi to share his stories and his charity work projects with GIHE. As I am involved with the Glion Charity Committee, I thought the relief efforts in Nepal would be a good cause for us to highlight since mountaineering tourism is a main source of income for many people in that region. Also, Tendi is a close family friend, so he agreed to come as an exceptional guest speaker for Glion’s students.
Who is Sherpa Tendi?
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, a Sherpa is “a member of a people of Tibetan stock living in the Nepalese Himalayas, who often serve as porters or guides on mountain-climbing expeditions.” As a 10 times Everest summiteer, Sherpa Tendi came all the way from the Himalayas to Switzerland and shared amazing stories about his adventures on the “Top of the World”. He gave a lecture about leadership, success, and taking chances and he encouraged students to never give up.
At 32 years of age, Sherpa Tendi is regularly presented in the media as one of the greatest Himalayan specialists of all time, a Tenzing Norgay of the 21st Century. He is one of the first Nepalese to have passed the Alpine Mountain Guide Diploma, certified by UIAGM. He has climbed Mt Everest 10 times, the majority as the leader of the expedition. Tendi has reached the summit of over 50 peaks in Nepal, Tibet, and the Andes and in Europe. He has trained in helicopter rescue with the Maison du Sauvetage of François- Xavier Bagnoud in Sion, Switzerland and has supplemented this with further training in the medical and rescue fields.
Advocate for Nepalese charities
Aside from his profession as a mountain guide, Tendi is also heavily involved in social organisations. He is the Treasurer of the National Nepalese Association of Mountain Guides; he volunteers for Nepalko Salthi, a Swiss NGO that initiates and pursues development projects in the fields of education, health and infrastructure in remote villages of Nepal. For many years, Tendi’s ambition has been to establish a national rescue organization in Nepal. He once said “Mountaineering is all I live with; however, I believe nothing counts till I share my knowledge, time and experience for a change in society for a better future of humanitarianism.”
Help Glion reach its goal for Sherpa Tendi
To support Tendi’s charity actions, I decided to organize a fundraiser with him and set a goal of CHF5000, the price for each house to be rebuilt. If we get to raise one house, Tendi will take a Glion flag to the top of Everest Click & Tweet! . I believe in this project as much as I believe in this school. I know by working as a team and as future leaders we can raise this money and improve the life and the conditions of the citizens of Nepal.
To get involved it is very easy, if you want to donate by cash you can contact me at eloise.christophi@glion.ch or you can donate to FORWARD FOR NEPAL by specifying that it is for Tendi’s village fundraising:
FORWARD FOR NEPAL
CP 303
1824 Caux
Banque Cantonale Vaudoise
CP 300
1001 Lausanne
IBAN: CH95 0076 7000 Z536 2588 9
Swift: BCVLCH2LXXX
CCP: 10-725-4
Clearing: 767
Forward for Nepal is a nonprofit association with goal to support Nepal, after the earthquake of April 25th, 2015, TAGnepal decided to create Forward For Nepal in order to give a longer-term help that emergency aid. TAGnepal is a Swiss-nepali agency of trekking and expeditions based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The company was certified by the Government of Nepal and got the license from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Nepal was seriously affected by the earthquake, needs an important commitment for a reconstruction, which will bring the country towards new positive, challenges its nearest year.
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