The Foundation's Mission

Since 1959 over 200 people have died attempting to summit Mt. Everest alone, many more have been killed on other nearby peaks in the Himalaya. The vast majority of deaths are those of Sherpa who are on the mountain to support and guide foreign climbers. Due to the traditions of Sherpa culture, the children of these men are left destitute with few options for care or schooling.

Widows with children are viewed as outcasts and seldom remarry due the required burden of financially supporting another man’s family. Many other non-profits that work in the Khumbu Valley region of Nepal are focused on building hospitals and schools and providing general community services, but without specific funding to allow participation in these institutions and reintegration into society, the children of deceased climbers are relegated to lives of poverty and isolation.

The Other Side of Everest Educational Foundation was created to address this pressing unmet need.

Our delivery model is unique in that we leverage the care and upbringing of Nepalese children to benefit low-income inner-city youth in the United States. By partnering with public schools in impoverished urban areas, we educate children in America about mountain climbing, Sherpa culture, geography, religion and many additional related topics.

Following the adventures of record-breaking mountain climber, Wendy Booker, these children who face their own challenges in life are inspired to appreciate opportunities, strive to achieve their dreams and learn the joy of giving back.

Partner classes, such as Jim Cleere's 4th grade students at the Donald McKay Elementary School in East Boston, incorporate Wendy Booker’s climbs into their classroom curriculum and execute fundraising drives to help support a child in Nepal.

By bridging the gap between underprivileged children in two worlds, The Other Side of Everest Educational Foundation is improving their odds of success, and helping to develop strong, well-educated and inspired citizens who can positively contribute to their respective communities as adults.

Who are Sherpa?

Sherpa means "easterner" because for 600 years these people have slowly migrated to Nepal from the Kham in eastern Tibet. During times of great unrest in Tibet, many families left their homes looking for new places to live and settled in the mountain valleys of northern Nepal. The Khumbu is one of these regions and it sits at the base of the highest mountain peaks in the world on the south side of Mt. Everest.

Sherpa villages are some of the highest year-round settlements on earth. In the Khumbu, Sherpa number about 3,500, with another 30,000 Sherpa living in Nepal in the Solu, Langtang, Helmabu, and Rolwaling valleys. The Sherpa language (a dialect of Tibetan), literature, history, and philosophy are derived from old Tibetan religious books and Tibetan culture.

Since the 1950s, tourism has become the dominant source of employment and income in the area. Many Sherpa, as well as people from other ethnic groups, work as part of the climbing and tourism industry. Before 1959, Sherpa farmed and traded with Tibet. Today, most people work in trekking, mountaineering, portering, or performing religious services. While the Sherpa people retain their Buddhist religion and many of their traditional Tibetan practices, this shift in the local economy and way of life has demanded changes and put great stress on the Sherpa culture.

Sherpa hold many impressive Everest records, including the most times summitted for men and women, the quickest ascent, the quickest descent, the most time spent on the summit and the youngest climber to reach the summit.

What happens to the children of a deceased climber?

This is the great tragedy of the mountain climbing boom in the Himalaya. The low social status of Nepali women has been legally sanctioned making women second class citizens and depriving them of economic, property and inheritance rights.

Sherpa culture does not encourage the marrying of widows, thus a mother who has lost her husband has few good options. In the unlikely event that she finds a potential suitor, he will be unwillingly to offer any money to pay for the care and education of another man’s child – so the children from her first marriage will still be her responsibility. If her parents or siblings have the means to support her she can live with them and rely upon whatever meager charity they can offer. The final option (a high likelihood) is life on the streets of Kathmandu as a prostitute.

In every scenario, little money exists to pay for food, housing, clothing, school books and tuition. But, if these basic needs can be met for her children, many other opportunities are possible for the mother, allowing both widow and children to move beyond their current desperate situation and plan for a better life.

By providing for the children of Sherpa who die while climbing, The Other Side of Everest Educational Foundation gives women hope for a stable family life and their children the dream of a bright and prosperous future.

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Success Criteria

Helping Children

We offer children who have lost their fathers and face lives of misery, illiteracy and poverty a chance to lead healthy, prosperous lives.

Saving Families

We improve the lives of widows in Nepal who would be forced into lives of unthinkable hardship without our assistance in raising their children.

Changing Attitudes

Our work is aimed at shifting the attitude of the Sherpa community toward this isolated and outcast class of people and enabling them to assimilate into society as equal citizens.

Building Communities

Our activities strengthen and improve Sherpa communities as a whole by ensuring that future generations are well-adjusted, well-educated and empowered to make a difference in the world.

Inspiring US Youth

By teaching them to give back, we inspire low-income youth in the US to stay in school, become community advocates, and avoid common pitfalls such as suicide, teen pregnancy and drug and alcohol abuse.

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