The Kamzang Fund | The Kamzang Graduates!
Kamzang Young Women reunion. Cafe Caravan, Boudhanath, Kathmandu (Nepal) (2021)
The Kamzang Kids | Graduates!
Nuru Wangdi Sherpa (Khumbu, Nepal) – Bachelor in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Presently a Partner at Cafe Caravan (Boudhanath, Kathmandu), Kamzang Journeys Website Designer, Khumbu Adventures Team & Kathmandu City Guide)
Zangmu Sherpa (Khumbu, Nepal) – Bachelor in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Finished a course in Switzerland, presently working in hospitality in Pokhara!)
Lhamo Bhuti (Kanchenjunga, Nepal) – Bachelor in Musoorie & Medical School in Bangalore, India
(Presently in Kerala, taking a course to attempt to finish her medical studies overseas)
LOOKING FOR A SPONSOR FOR FURTHER MEDICAL STUDIES!
Chhunku Ukyab (Kanchenjunga, Nepal) – Fashion Design College in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Presently a star if fashion design!)
Dawa Yangi Sherpa (Khumbu, Nepal) – Hotel Management in Kathmandu. Kathmandu & Mountain Guiding Course
(Presently in Kathmandu with a Child & Helping Husband in Trekking Industry)
Doma Tenzing Sherpa (Khumbu, Nepal) – Bachelor in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Presently Teaching Elementary School in Thame, Everest Region)
Doma Rigzen Sherpa (Khumbu, Nepal) – Bachelor in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Presently Married with Kids & Running a Lodge in the Everest Region)
Fura Dikki Sherpa (Khumbu, Nepal) – BA Nursing
(Presently Working on Nursing Degree in Sydney, Australia)
Singge (Zanskar, Indian Himalaya)
(Presently Married, Living in Leh & Working at an Army Post in Ladakh)
The Kamzang Kids | Graduates!
Nuru Wangdi Sherpa – Kathmandu, Nepal
Nuru Sherpa, the son of Lhakpa Dorji from Thame & Lhakpa Doma from Pangboche, is living in Kathmandu with his family while he studies in class 10+, or college in Nepal. He is sponsored by Jennelle, a Nepal & India trekker, and has been getting top grades throughout his education. He’s now thinking about university, and has been considering hotel management and tourism although he has real skills in the computer sciences and design. He’s helped to design our Kamzang t-shirts and buffs, and is now helping me with the Kamzang Journeys website as my technical adviser, and answering emails when we’re off trekking!
Nuru has also come trekking with one of our Everest High Passes group, cycling with us in India, and has proven himself to be the perfect host in the mountains as well as a strong hiker with a love of the mountains! Nuru finished his university degree in Kathmandu in 2019, and is presently Kim’s partner in Cafe Caravan at Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu! Nuru also redesigned the Kamzang Journeys website, and works together with Doma + Lhakpa at Khumbu Adventures, as well as with Kim + Lhakpa at Kamzang Journeys. He has also studied Buddhist Studies near Boudhanath.
And 2021 update, Nuru finally had his official university graduation December 22, 2 years after his actual graduation!
Nuru Wangdi Sherpa Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Nuru with his sponsor, Jennelle, just before his graduation from university in Kathmandu! (2019)
Nuru with dad Lhakpa at Everest Base Camp, Nepal (2016)
Lhakpa Zangmu Sherpa – Khumbu, Nepal
Lhakpa Zangmu from Mende has wonderful sponsors, Karen, Steve & Lindsay from our 2008 Arun Valley trek in the Solu Khumbu region. She is going to school in Kathmandu while living with Lhakpa and Doma, her aunt and uncle, and her cousin Nuru. She is flourishing, studying hard as well as being very helpful at home, and doing very well in school. Her English is nearly perfect after speaking next to nothing when she arrived from the village. Zangmu was also helped a bit by another Everest trekker Tom P, years ago. A big thanks to Karen, Steve + Lindsay for all of the support you’ve provided to Zangmu, it’s been invaluable …
Zangmu came to Kathmandu to begin her bachelor’s degree after having spent 2020 in Namche, the Khumbu (Everest) region working and touching base with her family and village. She won a scholarship for her bachelor studies from a Khumbu-based organization Yembu Thamichhowa Kidug, a huge achievement. And recently she was invited to attend a summer program in Switzerland! Zangmu has finished her bachelor degree as of 2023, and is presently working at a Gate Vocational School in Pokhara, a branch of the school she attended, waiting for her graduation. We’re so proud of her!
Steve, Karen & Linday continued to fund her expenses in Kathmandu, and Howard L stepped in to help with the education of another girl in Nepal (he already sponsors 3) as her room, board, and other school expenses in Kathmandu were very expensive.
Zangmu Sherpa Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Zangmu, Namche Bazaar, Khumbu. Between college + university in Kathmandu (2019)
Zangmu with cousin Pasang Lhamo, Kathmandu (2020)
Singge – Zanskar, Indian Himalaya
Singge is from a remote mountain village in Zanskar, the Indian Himalaya. We met him in 2001 in a remote village in Zanskar and discovered his story. Joel brought him back to Leh, where I met them, and then Manali the next summer. His mother is blind and his father’s family doesn’t recognize him. He is now 19 and has finished his schooling in Manali at the Himalayan Buddhist School. He was sponsored for school for many years by Sunish, a Tibet trekker, and looked after by his surrogate father Joel (who often took him trekking with his groups during the summer) & Kim (his ‘older sister’, who looks after his welfare and pays his school fees). Tragically, Joel died of a heart attack in 2010. Joel’s friend Chuck donated some funds for Singge’s schooling and Joel’s family gave some money for his sponsorship. Louise D generously donates yearly towards Singge’s education (or for his pocket money, actually!)
Singge needed to pass his math exam for Class 10 (which he failed previously) and to continue his further studies in Manali. Sally L offered an incentive for him to pass, and we’re paying for a tutor and his living costs in Manali while he studies for the exam. (But eventually this didn’t work out).
UPDATE 2022 | Singge is now married and living in Leh with his wife and son! Singge’s son, Jigmet Lachen, was not quite 1 in 2022, and his wife is Skarma Dolma from Kharnak, Ladakh. They live in the family’s house in Choglamsar (outside of Leh, where the Dalai Lama has his residence) with Skarma Dolma’s parents. Singge has a job with the army in Pang, halfway between Leh and Manali, taking care of a VIP Army Resthouse.
Singge Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Singge with Zanskari Buddhist Lamas. Near Kargiak, Zanskar, Indian Himalaya (2017)
Singge in Ladakh, Indian Himalaya (2019)
Doma Tenzing Sherpa – Khumbu, Nepal
Doma Tenzing is the daughter of Mingma, one of our yak drivers, a former Everest (and other 8000+ meter peaks) climber. She finished class 10 at Khumjung school, worked in a boarding school in Namche, and the Kamzang Fund helped her to complete classes 11 & 12 in Kathmandu but we need a sponsor to help her achieve her goals. Everest trekkers Diana P and Chris R, as well as my good friend Kristin S, helped Doma Tenzing to complete this goal!
In 2019, Doma obtained a great job teaching at Thame School, an exciting opportunity and she has continued to help find sponsors for other children who need sponsorship, including Bipana Rai. She was living with her father Mingma in Thame, but recently married (2021) and moved into a house closer to Namche with her husband Paljor! Very sadly, her mother passed away in 2019 …
Doma Rigzin Sherpa – Khumbu, Nepal
Rigzin Doma is the sister of Tenzin Doma, and we also assisted with her education in Kathmandu. She is now married, with a lovely daughter Ang Tsamji, and running a lodge in Shomare above Pangboche in the Everest region!
Doma Tenzing with father Mingma + a photo of Mingma on top of Everest (2019)
Tenzin Doma with Kim at family house in Thame, Everest, Nepal (2021)
Chhunku Ukyab – Kanchenjunga, Nepal
Chhunku (Chhenzomla) is an amazing and beautiful ethnically-Tibetan young woman who comes from the very remote Tibetan village of Olangchung Gola in the Kanchenjunga region, a far eastern region of Nepal. She started to lose her hearing about four years ago and now is almost completely deaf. She has been to see the top ear and hearing specialists in Kathmandu but there seems to be no chance of restoring her hearing. Her father is the local Buddhist lama in the village so has no income whatsoever, and her mother weaves beautiful carpets to bring a little cash into the family. Besides this small income, they have nothing. We promised to help Chunku. In 2014 ago she made the long journey to Kathmandu with her mother and studied in Kathmandu in Class 11 + 12 at a collge school near Boudhanath. She is eager to keep learning, and wants to go to university after class 12 in two more years. We are looking for people to help with her further education. Kim, The Kamzang Fund and several trekkers + friends (Kristin, Sole, Kevin, Els, Martin, Mr Bob ++) contributed funds to paid for these 2 years of education in Kathmandu ($1200 per year).
Several years ago she made the long journey to Kathmandu with her mother and is now studying in Kathmandu in class 11 at a school near Boudhanath. She is eager to keep learning and wants to go to university after class 12 in two more years. We are looking for people to help with her further education. The Kamzang Fund/Kim has paid for her first two year’s education, $1200 per year.
Chhunku is getting help with her 4-year fashion design studies in Kathmandu at the Namuna College of Fashion Tech, but still needs more funding to cover the high costs of this program. She is extremely talented, very motivated to change her life, and was accepted into a local program, a 4-year course.
Sponsors for Fashion Program
Graham North, Anne Henley, Mike Donovan, Kristin Stanley, Els Vandercrys, Martin Stubbings, Greg Woolstencroft, Yanchen Bhutia (+ Olangchun Gola Team)
Chhunku Ukyab Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Chunku brought Kim a hand-woven carpet that she wove from the Kanchenjunga, Nepal (2018)
Lhamo Bhuti – Kanchenjunga, Nepal
Lhamo Bhuti finished her high school (college) studies in Darjeeling, India. She’s a very good student who comes from a family of Tibetan refugees who migrated to the Kanchenjunga region after 1959 (Phuntsok is one of our staff members, and she has two younger brothers, Jhampa Namdol and Tenzin Topden, who need sponsors). Their parents have a small house in the Kanchenjunga region but life is difficult and money scarce for Tibetan refugees, and education is a luxury. Phuntsok and his wife Lhazom Bhuti recently moved to Kathmandu where it might be easier to make a living.
Celesta & Adrian helped with Lhamo Bhuti’s high school education, and now that she has started university in Bangalore, India, Sandra T has stepped in to help with Lhamo Bhuti’s medical studies. Lhamo Bhuti is studying at St Philomenas College of Nursing in Bangalore, India. She finished her first session’s exam with good marks, ranking 10th in the batch! I got to catch up with Lhamo Bhuti and her family during the 2020 lockdown in Kathmandu, during which time she got to spend the entire year with her family as Nepal and India were both closed. Congratulations, Lhamo Bhuti!
Lhamo Bhuti Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Lhamo Bhuti with family and Kim, Kathmandu (2020)
Lhamo Bhuti at Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu (2019)
Fura Diki Sherpa – Khumbu, Nepal
Furu Diki Sherpa, from a poverty-stricken family in Monjo, the Everest region, has been attending school in Kathmandu for many years. For her first few years of schooling in Kathmandu she was sponsored by Everest trekkers Camilla + David, but she lost her sponsorship after class 12. She was always extremely precocious, very determined to make something of her life, and has been cheerfully getting good grades throughout her time in Kathmandu.
Fura Diki completed a 3-year nursing college in Kathmandu with the help of Annette, a friend of Ade’s. She was extremely grateful to have this chance to change her life. Thanks so much, Annette. for all of your help!
Fura Diki started a second nursing degree in Sydney, Austraila in 2017, and has currently moved to Canberra where she is finishing her nursing degree. There wasn’t enough opportunity for nursing in Kathmandu, and she has a cousin-brother in Sydney who encouraged her to come to Australia. She has self-funded this part of her education, a big challenge!
Fura Diki got married to a Sherpa boy that she has known for many years in 2019! A big congratulations to her from The Kamzang Fund!
Fura Diki Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Phura Diki (left) with Kim and cousin at Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu (2013)
Dawa Yangi Sherpa – Khumbu, Nepal
Dawa Yangi, a Sherpani from Monjo in the Everst region, comes from a poor family in the Khumbu. Through a sponsor she was able to attend school in Kathmandu for a year but then returned to the Hillary school in Khumjung where we thought she would do better as Kathmandu was too far from home. However after finishing class 10 she was determined to come back to Kathmandu for school.
Kamzang Fund continued to help support her education, and in 2015 Graeme & Laura, who were sponsoring her younger sister Nimalee (who got married and had a daughter), were now free to sponsor Dawa Yangi. Dawa Yangi is presently almost finished her college education in tourism and hotel management in Kathmandu, and her dreams are to finish her bachelor and go on to get her masters, preferably overseas! Dawa Yangi is a remarkable, determined and beautiful young girl who is very generous to her family and others, works very hard and will have a bright future. Rita contributed to the cost of her college education in Kathmandu, while Graham + Laura continue to fund her schooling as well. Rita also just funded Dawa Yangi’s Kathmandu guide course.
Dawa Yangi married Ramesh Rai in 2019 and as of 2021 have a beauatiful baby daughter! A big congratulations to them both …
Nimalee Sherpa – Khumbu, Nepal
Nimalee Sherpa, Dawa Yangi’s younger sister, was going to school in Namche Bazaar. but has recently left school to help her single mother with their small momo (dumpling) and tea shop. She was sponsored by Graeme & Laura and was also helped, along with another Sherpa girl who is now sponsored for school in Kathmandu, by Jim W. She left school and worked at one of the Everest Summit Homes in the Everest (Khumbu) region, helping to support her mother and learning tourism and hospitality on her feet. Later, she married a Sherpa man from the Khumbu, and now has a beautiful daughter and is happily living near her mother in Pangoche, Khumbu.
Nimalee Sherpa Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Dawa Yangi Sherpa Photos & Story
Facebook Album
Nimalee (left), sponsor Graham (center), Dawa Yanggi (right) with her new baby. Cafe Caravan, Kathmandu (2021)
Dawa Yangii with her new daughter at Cafe Caravan, Autumn 2021!
Dawa Yangi with trekker Martin S at the Kathmandu Guest House in Kathmandu (2017)
Nimalee and daughter in the Khumbu, Nepal with Kim (2021)
Nimalee and school friends in Namche, Everest, Nepal (2008)
The Kamzang Fund | 100%
100% of your donations go to the Kamzang Fund, the Kamzang Kids, and our Kamzang Fund Projects. A donation to the Kamzang Fund goes directly to children who have extra needs during their education (including medical assistance, clothes or housing), villagers that we meet during our travels that require medical assistance, Himalayan nomads or other of our many Kamzang Fund social projects. You can sponsor a child yearly, or make a donation to a child’s education, or donate to the Kamzang Fund – all of your donations go 100% to our causes!
Make a difference, improve the life of a child by offering education, or the life of a Himalayan villager!
The Kamzang Fund has been sponsoring children (as well as a few adults) in the Himalaya for education and medical issues for 20 years. The Kamzang Fund presently has 4 college graduate, sponsors 10 children for higher education, 20+ children for lower or middle school education and is looking for sponsorship for many more children. The Kamzang Fund has also supported locals from the remote regions through which we trek and cycle for various medical issues over the past two decades, and continues to help villagers who have fallen through the cracks …
Browse through the Kamzang Fund Kids, Kamzang Fund Medical Cases & Kamzang Fund Projects – of which we have many, including extensive Nepal 2015 earthquake aid and the Adopt a Goat campaign. Please get in touch if you’d like to help to change a life in the Himalaya!
Donate to The Kamzang Fund
(Mark as ‘Gift’ or ‘Payment to Friend’ for no fees)
PayPal
Check (Cheque)
Kamzang Journeys
Mail To: Kim Bannister, PO Box 1178, Rockport, ME 04856
(We are not registered as a 4013C non-profit to keep our fees at 0%, so don’t have a separate bank account. 100% of your donation goes to The Kamzang Fund.)
Or Inquire for Bank Details
Namaste – Tashi Delek – Jullay!