Gulf for Good Everest Base Camp challengers raise significant funds for underprivileged in Nepal

Twenty five people from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the USA recently completed a 12 day expedition to the Himalayas where they trekked Everest Base Camp some 5,364 metres up the famous mountain range. Each participant had raised a minimum of Dhs14,000 for charity in order to take part.

This was the 22nd charity challenge organized by Gulf for Good (G4G), since its formation in 2001, whereby the money raised through each challenge is spent on worthwhile projects in the area in which the challenge takes place.

David Baker, who works for Borouj Consulting, a leading public relations company based in Emaar Gold and Diamond Park, was one of the participants. He was sponsored by Abu Dhabi-based Prestige Jet and Dubai's Indigo Properties, and says previous Everest Base Camp challenges by G4G helped build the first Community Hospital in Ilam, a rural part of Eastern Nepal, as well as provide needed medical equipment.

"The Dhs14,000 I raised (along with similar amounts being raised by my travelling companions) will be used to support the hospital again, this time to build an urgently needed maternity wing," he said. "The funds will also support the New Youth Development Society, in Kathmandu, which provides a home to orphaned and abandoned children who would otherwise live on the streets."

This was Baker's third G4G Challenge and by far the toughest.

"Everest is right up there in the top places to see before you die," he said. "It is the tallest mountain on Earth. Our group trekked in the footsteps of the great explorers to the base of it, covering a total of nearly 100km over 12 days reaching a height of 5,364 metres and where only one-half of the oxygen we breathe at sea level is available. And this is what made the trek so tough.

Prior to setting off, the challengers were briefed in Kathmandu on the progress of the Ilam Hospital by Dr David Johnson, one of the founders of Himalayan Healthcare.

He told the group that the not-for-profit organization has been helping the rural poor in Nepal since 1992 and their goal is to help the people in Nepal to help themselves, and make a lasting difference in the lives of the people they are helping.

"In April 2004, thanks in large part to the generosity of G4G challengers, the new hospital in Ilam in eastern Nepal was opened and is now serving a region of 300,000 people. The hospital provides a full array of medical services previously unavailable in this region," he said.

"Living in Dubai and around the Gulf we take so much for granted," said Baker. "To see how people elsewhere in the world struggle to survive on a day-to-day basis highlights a fact that most of us really don't have much to complain about when compared to many others in the world. We were delighted to achieve our goal will now be monitoring the progress of the hospital through the web site http://www.himalayan-healthcare.org/ilamclinic..htm)