KATHMANDU: Widows and children of mountaineers and mountain workers who died while working in the Himalayas are receiving livelihood and educational support under a project run by the Shangri-La Nepal Foundation (SNF) with funding from The Juniper Fund (TJF), USA.

“TJF is funding the programme to support families who have lost a member in the mountains, while SNF is implementing it here,” said SNF President Jiban Ghimire. Briefing a social audit and review meeting of the ‘Livelihood and Capacity Building Skill Development Programme’, Ghimire stated that more than 76 families of lost mountain workers have received support since 2023.

The three-year project has spent 450,000 US dollars to provide monetary and livelihood support to the bereaved families. “To date, we have supported 76 families of lost workers, directly impacting the lives of over 300 people,” Ghimire shared.

During the three-year period, the SNF organised 144 livelihood support events, four leadership trainings, three local resource-based craft trainings, six trekking guide trainings, cooking and 11 hotel management trainings, as well as 38 educational support activities, according to Program Director Ang Chokpa Sherpa.

The affected families also receive entrepreneurship and business development training, organic vegetable farming support, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) awareness training, she added. “Under the programme, the Khumbu Climbing Centre also received support to provide mountaineering skill training to aspiring female mountaineers.”

Sharing his experience during the social audit, Mingma Dawa Sherpa, who lost his father while working in the mountains, said the programme launched by TJF and SNF helped him and his family overcome their trauma. “They are supporting our dreams in times of grief,” he said.

Phur Diki Sherpa, who lost her husband in the mountains, said that with support from the programme, she herself became a mountaineer, following in her husband’s footsteps.

TJF has also been providing full scholarships to 73 students for their education in Grades 11 and 12. “The Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality is ready to cooperate with TJF and SNF to make the programme sustainable,” said Mingma Chhiri Sherpa, Chairman of the rural municipality.

The TJF-funded SNF programme is proving to be a noble initiative to support widows and children of lost mountain workers, said Nuru Jangbu Sherpa, ward chair of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality – 3.

According to Ghimire, The Juniper Fund was started by American mountaineers David Morton and Melissa Arnot Reid to address an unmet obligation they witnessed while working as guides in the world's highest mountains. Its work is currently focused on Nepali workers involved in climbing and expedition support in the high mountains of Nepal. “The vast majority of these families’ loved ones were lost while working on Everest, but we have supported families throughout the Himalayan region.”

Ghimire shared that TJF is committed to continuing the programme to address the needs of mountain workers' families in the future.