In April 2015 Nepal was hit by terrible natural disaster, the Gorkha earthquake. It killed nearly 9,000 people and injured over 20,000. Whilst many schools and buildings were the destroyed in the whole country, especially in Kathmandu, a place very close to our hearts was severely damaged; One of the main schools in the valley of Sidhing. This school has over 170 students and a key place for the education of the younger ones in this region. Our founders donated enough funds to rebuild the schools so it could be reopened and the children from Sidhing could follow their education right next to their homes. Olivier D. Stocker, a businessman based in Hong Kong had always been very close to Nepal and when he heard the terrible news of the earthquake attempted to donate funds to help this beautiful country recover from all the damages the earthquake. To his disappointment, it was terribly complicated to make sure the funds reached Nepal and its people, therefore, he tried to find other ways of helping. He then contacted a good old friend that he had met a couple of times whilst trekking in the Himalayas; Sudip Gautam. Sudip, born and bred in the valley of Sidhing is a young entrepreneur with a hunger for life and a love to his country and his people that can move mountains. And that was it, the funds were donated to the school and Sudip managed the whole project resulting in what would end up being the first ever project of Himal Foundation.
In 2017, Olivier D. Stocker, Sudip Gautam and Rita Ariete met in Nepal and founded the Himal Foundation, for rising valleys.
Since then we have continuously visited the school to ensure everything is done according to plan and the project has now been completed, allowing the children of Sidhing to go back to school and continue their education. This is a project very close to The Himal Foundation’s heart not only because it was the first initiative to propel the organization but because it’s the home to the future of the valley.
‘We speak regularly to the students of Saraswoti School, and is fantastic to see them so happy and appreciative. Their families too are extremely pleased to see how their children can walk to school other than having to move to the big city, the place has breathtaking views and is just a beautiful scenario for kids to learn, we could not let it die’ - Rita Ariete, Himal Foundation
This project in particular is now considered completed and it has been fully funded, however we are still working on many more initiatives with the school that will benefit not only the students but most of the population in the valley.
