On Sunday March 11th 2012 we reached Everest Basecamp, at 5364 metres, and situated on a glacier!  It was a brilliant few minutes we spent there, feeling truly on top of the world and having a tremendous sense of achievement that we made it!  We had communion and prayed for the people of Nepal, before making our way back down over scree, boulder fields, and across a narrow ice ledge!

The team was quite a small one - four from the UK (me, Andy, Mike and Samir ), Steve, who led the team and is involved in the work in Nepal, and two Nepalese guides.  Three porters carried the main rucksacks.  We lost Andy and a guide quite early on as Andy got HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and had to be helicoptered out to hospital.  Bit scary!  Happily he made a full recovery.

Although the charity on this page says Elim Pentecostal church, the money raised by my sponsors and this page is going directly to the work being done in Nepal.  Humanitarian work is of prime importance as it addresses the serious needs in Nepal.  Being a teacher, I was interested in the situation with regards education there.  Roughly half the girls do not learn to read and write!  For boys its about a third.  Basic school  building (often just a single room) is one of the projects I am raising funds for.  Equiping a school with a metal trunk of books, writing materials and visual aids,etc. costs around £100.  Other developments include making provision for clean water supplies and distributing vegetable seeds. The motto 'Something to eat every DAY' is very telling.  We expect a lot at every MEAL!  After these projects are completed Nepalese Christians are then given training and assistance in meeting the spiritual needs of the people.

Incidentally, I am meeting the full cost of the trek myself, so ALL money raised goes to the projects in Nepal. 

The funny side of the experience - well having communion with marshmallows on a glacier was quite surreal (someone forgot the bread!), but even funnier (about an hour of being unable to keep a straight face!) was the freezer hygienically stored in the 'bathroom' (no bath or shower or basin!)  right next to an Asian squat toilet.  And yes - it had food in it, including meats!  (The freezer, not the toilet!) And Mike had just had a yak steak! LOL!

All in all it was the experience of a lifetime, and I would do it all again if I could!  Nepalese people are generally very helpful, kind and with great sense of humour and I hope I can make a difference to some of them through the fundraising.

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