Giant contrast to 2016

Last March, Ralf and I were in Thulosirubari when the first two of three planned parts of the new school building were inaugurated. The whole village was in a party mood. I looked into hundreds of smiling faces that communicated optimism. Not only at the school, everywhere in Thulosirubari construction work was on. What a contrast to my visit two years earlier! In 2016, one year after the earthquake, the village had still been a field of ruins, the inhabitants had seemed depressed, paralyzed.

Thank you for your big heart!

Third construction phase

“School up!” – as I had the chance to experience last March and the memory of it still warms my heart – is so much more than just an investment in a building that ensures that the students no longer have to be taught in corrugated iron sheds: The new school has become a symbol of hope and a new beginning. It is impossible to forget the natural disaster of 2015, but the people of Thulosirubari are now looking to the future – thanks to your generosity.

And it is this generosity that I would like to appeal to again shortly before Christmas: Please continue donating for “School up!” because we have not yet crossed the finishing line! The construction work on the third part of the building is in progress and must be financed. Here is the bank account again:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

The day draws to an end

Even the darkness cannot prevent construction from continuing in Thulosirubari. For 18 hours, concrete is mixed in the small mountain village 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, transported upwards and distributed, then finally the second floor slab is casted. “Only one machine for mixing concrete was used for the work, the rest was done by physical labor,” writes Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the German aid organisation Nepalhilfe Beilngries. “Special skilled laborers were brought from Kathmandu for the casting.” After the first two parts of the new school building have been used for teaching since last spring, the construction work for the third section is now on the home straight: If everything goes according to plan, the new building with eight more classrooms could be completed in spring 2019.

Great opportunity for the people of Thulosirubari

The third section, on the right one of the two already completed parts of the building

“I am so happy to see the constructioin of the school building”, says Ram Sharan BK, Chairman of the School Management Committee. “It is a great opportunity for us to rebuild the school so quickly after the 2015 earthquake.” On behalf of the students and their parents, Ram Sharan said, he thanked Nepalhilfe Beilngries and the donators of “School up!”. He hopes “that the support will continue until the construction work will have been completed and also afterwards to further improve the education”.

Highly motivated students

The more than 500 students are also delighted with the new premises. “Everyone will feel safe from disasters such as earthquake, fire, storm, etc.,” writes Resina Nepali from Class 10 and promises: “The students will be regularly in the classrooms and increase the hard work after completing reconstruction of the building.” For Sabita Shrestha from Class 12, the fact of being able to be taught in the same building reinforces the feeling of equality in everyone. “The buildings help to improve our education better than before.”

“Our God in Germany”

Working till late at night

Once again I would like to ask you not to let up in your support of our aid project “School up!”, which I launched after the devastating earthquake in Nepal in 2015 with the top climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits, in order to rebuild the destroyed school of Thulosirubari as quickly as possible. We still need money to finish the construction work as planned. “I would like to thank the donators,” writes student Resina. “They are our God from Germany.”

Here once again the bank account:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you indicate this intended purpose, the money will end up in Thulosirubari. A thousand thanks also from me! You are great!

Construction side in Thulosirubari (on the right the two already completed school buildings)

“The construction work is going smoothly,” writes Shyam Pandit, who coordinates the projects of the German aid organisation Nepalhilfe Beilngries in the Himalayan state. At the end of last week, Shyam once again visited the construction site of the new school in the mountain village of Thulosirubari, some 70 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu. After teaching in the first two parts of the building started as well as using the corresponding toilet block, the third and last section of the building is being constructed right next door. Your donations made this possible for our aid project “School up!”, which I founded together with the two climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits after the devastating earthquake in 2015, in order to rebuild the destroyed school in Thulosirubari as quickly as possible.

Please do not let up!

Concreting of the floor slab

The first floor slab of the third section of the new school building has just been concreted. The next step is to build the walls for the second floor. Another toilet block will also be built next to this building. As you can see, we have already come a long way, but not yet reached our destination. Shyam Pandit quotes the contractor as saying that construction could be completed in spring 2019. Let’s wait and see! But of course we can only go on if we don’t run out of money. So, please continue to support “School up!” with your donations. They will be used exclusively for this project if you indicate “Gerlinde and Ralf School” as intended purpose. Here again the bank account details:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Thanks a million for your support, also on behalf of Thulosirubari’s children, their parents and their teachers. You are great!

The bricks are already there

Your donations for our aid project “School up!” continue to work. The base plate for the third section of the new school in the small mountain village of Thulosirubari, 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, has now been concreted. In the next step, the bricks for the walls of the first floor will be laid. Ralf Dujmovits – the so far only German climber to have climbed all 14 eight-thousanders – and I had laid the foundation stone for the third construction phase with another eight classrooms in mid-March. At that time, the first two buildings had been festively inaugurated.

Not yet at the finish line

The old school of Thulosirubari had been damaged by the devastating earthquake in Nepal at the end of April 2015 so badly that it had had to be demolished. In June 2015, I had founded “School up!” with Ralf and the Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner – the first woman in the world to stand on the summits of all eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen – in order to rebuild the destroyed school as quickly as possible. We have already come a long way, but have not yet reached our goal and need further donations. Here once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Thanks a million! You are great!

Musicians accompany us to the school

This roadblock is not an ordinary one. Five hundred meters in front of the school grounds in Thulosirubari, 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, our journey in a jeep ends. Eight musicians stand in the middle of the dusty piste through the village. When Ralf Dujmovits – the first and so far only German mountaineer who scaled all 14 eight-thousanders – and I get out of the car, they begin to play for us on their traditional instruments. Behind the music playing village band  we ascend the last meters to the school.

Arrival

There a big event has been organized for us. Several hundred students, parents, teachers, local notables and other residents of Thulosirubari are awaiting us for the ceremonial inauguration and handing over of the first two parts of the building to the local school committee – made possible by your donations to our aid project “School up!”. The old school had been so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015 that it had had to be demolished. At the end of June 2015, I had launched together with Ralf Dujmovits and the Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner “School up!” to rebuild the Thulosirubari school as soon as possible.

Final move in April

The new school building

“What a sight!”, Ralf calls when we approach the yellow painted new building. We high five. In a way, for both of us, a circle closes on this day. At the beginning of May 2015, a week after the quake, the 56-year-old mountaineer had driven with a team of doctors to the worst-hit district of Sindhupalchowk, where also Thulosirubari is located. “Where once was hubbub, is now ghostly silence. The people are standing around staring at the ruins of their homes. They do not even know where to start to clean up,” Ralf had told me at that time, adding that the old school was “just a pile of junk”. When I visited Thulosirubari in March 2016, almost a year after the disaster, the building was already demolished. The more than 500 children and adolescents were taught in corrugated iron sheds. In October 2016, thanks to “School up!”, construction work began. Now the first two buildings with a total of twelve classrooms are practically finished. In some places, the interior painting is not yet completed and some electrical work is still to be done. In April, the classes are finally to move to the new rooms.

New courage found

On this day of celebration, speeches are held for hours under a large tent roof in the schoolyard, and many documents and presents are handed over. Some dances of female students give fresh impetus to the program. The great gratitude that we experience is touching. We look into hundreds of happy faces. “You not only helped us, but also gave us new courage,” says Devi Dulal, chairman of the school committee. Inspired by the construction work on the new school, many Thulosirubari residents have started rebuilding their destroyed houses in the village.

Young audience

“Meanwhile, in Sindhupalchowk, work is being carried out on about 75 percent of the buildings that were damaged or destroyed by the 2015 earthquake,” says Sanjay Sapkota, who accompanied the construction of the new school in Thulosirubari as a technical advisor of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”: “The government has learned from the disaster and adopted stricter building rules. They only released the financial support for new buildings when people were able to prove that they followed the new rules.” However, the governmental subsidy of 300,000 rupees per building (converted about 2,400 euros) “is just enough for the foundation”, says Sanjay.

Foundation for eight more classrooms

First stone for the next building

Ralf and I also lay a foundation stone on this feast day in Thulosirubari: for the second construction phase of “School up!”. Another building with eight classrooms is to be built, and a second toilet section. “Education is the best and most important input we might get in our youth,” says Ralf Dujmovits in his short speech during the celebration. “For the future of this school, for Thulosirubari, for all the kids here I wish best of luck. You have learned to go through very difficult times – and deserve to have really good times in the future.” Like Ralf, I thank the people of Thulosirubari for the overwhelmingly warm welcome: “I carry you deep in my heart and promise you to continue to stand up for ‘School up!’” Later, when I walk for a few minutes through Thulosirubari before returning to Kathmandu, villagers from all sides greet me – not just like an old acquaintance, but like a friend.

Thanks and a request

Thanks for your support, say Ralf (l.) and I

Ralf and I have received the thanks of the people of Thulosirubari on behalf of all donors of “School up!” – and, of course, also of Gerlinde and the staff of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, who have implemented the construction of the first buildings with all their experience and great commitment. In order for the second construction phase, which will take about one to one and a half years, to be completed successfully, we need further donations for “School up!”. Once again here is the bank account:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you write this intended purpose on the bank transfer, the money will go purposefully to Thulosirubari. I will continue to inform you in my blog about the progress of our project. A big thank you to all friends of “School up!”. You are great!

P.S. Thanks also to LOWA for the seven sacks of shoes, more than 200 pairs, which we have distributed to the children of Thulosirubari. And also to AB Sport in Cologne for the footballs, with which the school team will play from now on.

New school buildings in Thulosirubari (picture from today)

The finishing line of the first stage of our aid project “School up!” is in sight: The first two buildings of the new school in the Nepalese mountain village of Thulosirubari will most probably be ready for occupation before the beginning of winter. The doors are fitted these days,  Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in the Himalayan state, writes to me. The windows are already installed. Subsequently, only the painting is missing. By the end of the month, says Shyam, the contractor wants to hand over the two first building units. Then the construction work will go on.

Carry on!

Doors and painting still missing

A third building is to be built, as well as toilets for girls and boys. So we have not yet arrived at the final destination. Along with the climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits, I had launched “School up!” two and half years ago to rebuild purposefully the school of Thulosirubari, a mountain village about 70 km east of Kathmandu. The school had been destroyed by the devastating earthquake in Nepal in April 2015. Since then, several hundred children and adolescents have been taught in corrugated-iron huts, which were used as provisional class rooms. In September 2016, the foundation stone was laid for the new school.

Your money works

Schoolchildren in Thulosirubari

At this point I would like to thank all of you who made with your donations possible what we have achieved so far. Alone through my donation bike tour “School up! River down!” in September, when I drove with my folding bike almost 1,500 kilometers from the source to the mouth of the Rhine in twelve days, we collected approximately 2,800 euros. You can see in the pictures that your money really works. I ask you to continue supporting “School up!”. Do you want to do a good deed in the Advent season? We are happy about every euro. Once again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V..
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

If you indicate this intended purpose, the money will flow directly into the construction work of the school in Thulosirubari. I will continue to keep you informed about the progress of the project in my blog. Promised!

The ceiling of the first floor is concreted

Four are standing around and discussing, one is working. This image is known from public construction sites in Germany. The situation is quite different in Thulosirubari, a small village about 70 kilometers east of Kathmandu. There the new school is being built with great enthusiasm – made possible by your donations for our aid projekt “School up!”. “All villagers are happy to be able to help with the work,” says Shyam Pandit, liaison man of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in the Himalayan state. Devi Dulal, head of the local school committee, is also delighted: “This will be a unique building for us. The work on this is very satisfactory for us.” The old school had been so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake at the end of April 2015 that it had had to be demolished. At the end of June 2015, I had launched – along with the extreme climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits – “School up!” to rebuild the school as quickly as possible. In the meantime, the ceiling of the first floor has been concreted. Here are some impressions of the construction site from the past weeks:

Positively contagious

For the people of Thulosirubari the construction work on the new school is a matter truly dear to their heart – and contagious. “Some villagers have begun to rebuild their homes,” Shyam reports. “They look closely at the blueprints for the school and build their houses accordingly.” Almost all buildings in Thulosirubari had been destroyed or damaged by the earthquake almost two years ago, 75 villagers had been killed.

Grab your tickets

Ralf Dujmovits

Even though the school is becoming more and more real, we have not yet reached the goal. We need more donations. As reported before, the Rhineland section of the German Alpine Club (DAV) supports us by organizing a charity event for “School up!” on 24 March in Cologne. There, Ralf Dujmovits, the so far only German climber who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders, will report in an exciting lecture about his mountain adventures. All revenues from the charity event will go into the construction of the school in Thulosirubari. So, don’t miss it! Online ticket sales via the DAV Cologne is on.
And for those who simply want to support our project “School up!” by donations, here again the bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

It would be great if you could tell your friends about “School up!”. Thank you so much!!

Foundation work almost finished

“We are so happy seeing the re-construction – and that the building is designed to resist earthquakes,” says Hari Bikram, the 43-year-old headteacher of Thulosirubari. The construction work in the small mountain village 70 kilometers east of the Nepali capital Kathmandu continues at high speed. “The plinth work has almost been finished,” Shyam Pandit, Nepalese liaison of the German relief organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, writes to me. I wanted to know from him whether the work will be stopped in winter. “No stop. I will continue construction work,” the contractor replied, says Shyam. However, it’s going to be a little slower in the cold season than now.

Students still feel panic

With joint forces

“It is a good feeling to know that our children are getting a good education, and without fear when the building will be finished,” says headmaster Hari Bikram. “Even now they still feel panic. The students say they can hardly wait to move from the TLCs (Temporary Learning Centers, which were made of corrugated iron) to a new safe building. We are so proud of all donators.” The fact that the new school is being built is due to all who have given money for our project “School up!”. I had launched the campaign in June 2015, along with the climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits, after the old “Gerlinde and Ralf School” in Thulosirubari had been so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake on 25 April 2015 that it had had to be demolished. “We hope that the new building with twelve classrooms will be finished before the monsoon next summer,” Shyam Pandit writes.

DAV charity event in Cologne with Ralf Dujmovits

Ralf Dujmovits

We have not yet reached our goal and need further donations. You should save a date: The Rhineland section of the German Alpine Club (DAV) supports our “School up!” program with a charity event on 24 March in Cologne. Ralf Dujmovits, the so far only German who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders, will be talking about his adventures on the highest mountains of the world. We will also present current pictures from Thulosirubari that evening. All revenue from the charity event will go into the project. Online ticket sales via DAV Cologne have already begun.

That’s a nice Christmas gift for a mountain friend, right? And if you’re itching to donate just before the Christmas season, the children in Thulosirubari would be pleased. Here again the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

A thousand thanks to you all!

The cornerstone was set

Yesterday, Sunday, was a very special day for the people of Thulosirubari. One who made a mark for the future, a sign of hope. In the small village in Sindhupalchowk District, about 70 kilometers east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, the cornerstone for a new school was set. The old “Gerlinde and Ralf School” of the German aid organization Nepalhilfe Beilngries (NHB) had been so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake on 25 April 2015 that it later had to be demolished. In the summer of 2015, I had initiated, along with the professional climbers Ralf Dujmovits and Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, the donation campaign “School up!”, with the goal to rebuild the school in Thulosirubari as soon as possible. Therefore yesterday was for us three a special day too – and also for all of you who have donated for “School up!”: Without your support, no foundation would have been laid yesterday.

Twelve classrooms

Sapkota at “work”

Former Forestry Minister Agni Sapkota, a Maoist politician from Sindhupalchowk District, symbolically set the cornerstone. Several representatives of the District Government, other local politicians and the two NHB liaison men in Nepal, Sunil Krishna Shrestha and Shyam Pandit, attended the event.
The members of the new School Management Committee have meanwhile begun their activity. “They are happy with excitement and committed to do good supervision for quality building and good coordination with NHB,” Shyam writes to me. The new building will have twelve class rooms, six on the first and six on the second floor. Higher buildings are no longer allowed because of the continuing risk of earthquakes in the region. 575 students are to benefit from the new classrooms. According to current plans, the building will be completed in December 2017.

It was on a Saturday

The earthquake about one and a half years ago had killed almost 9,000 people in Nepal. Sindhupalchowk District was hit particularly hard. In the small mountain village of Thulosirubari alone 75 people died – including eight children, who had been students of the “Ralf and Gerlinde School”. There would have been more young victims if the earthquake had not taken place on a Saturday when the school was closed. Only 30 to 40 of about 1800 houses in and around Thulosirubari remained intact.

Not forgotten

Thulosirubari

During my visit to the region last March, I saw many people who were still living in provisional corrugated-iron huts. In many places of Sindhupalchowk the debris of collapsed houses had not even been removed. Many people I talked to felt abandoned. The residents of Thulosirubari will soon be able to see with their own eyes that they have not been forgotten. And as they already did during the construction of the old school, they will once again join the work – for instance by carrying material to the construction site.
A first stage finish of “School up!” has been reached with the start of construction, but we are not yet at the end of the trip. I’ll continue reporting about the progress of the construction work in my blog.  The overall cost of the school is not yet completely financed. We need more donations. Here again the bank account:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

A thousand thanks to all “School up!”-Friends! You are great!

Everest North Face (now)

I know this view. But how different is Mount Everest looking now this fall. The Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki has pitched his Advanced Base Camp (ABC) exactly where our tents stood eleven years ago. In spring 2005, I accompanied the Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, the German Ralf Dujmovits and the Japanese Hirotaka Takeuchi to Everest North Face and reported from ABC at 5,500 meters on DW Radio and the Internet on the progress of the expedition.

Having survived a cerebral edema

North Face (in 2005)

Originally, the trio had planned to climb via the so-called Supercouloir route to the summit at 8,850 meters: in the lower part through the Japanese Couloir (first climbed by the Japanese Shigehiro and Ozaki fin 1980), in the upper part through the Hornbein Couloir (named after the US climber Hornbein, who was in 1963 along with his compatriot Unsoeld the first who dared to climb into the steep North Face at an altitude of about 7,600 meters). The conditions in the wall made it impossible, the three professional climbers turned to the normal route. In the end the expedition failed because Hiro suffered from a cerebral edema above 7,000 meters, which he survived with luck. Seven years later, in 2012, Takeuchi became the first Japanese who climbed all 14 eight-thousanders.

High danger of avalanches

In spring 2005, the wall was significantly less snowy than now. Nobukazu Kuriki has announced that he would try to reach the summit of Everest via the “Great Couloir”, solo and without supplemental oxygen. The Australian climbers Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer had opened the route “White Limbo”  through the Norton Couloir in 1984, without breathing masks. At that time the wall was also covered in snow. Since then the route has not been repeated.

The 34-year-old Japanese has already been at the foot of the wall and spoke of high danger of avalanches. As reported before, Kuriki is trying for the sixth time to climb the highest mountain in the world in the post-monsoon period, for the first time, however, on the north side. He had got a first impression of the North Face in 2012. In this failed attempt via the West Ridge he had suffered so severe frostbite that later nine fingers had to be amputed almost completely.

Jornet: “A lot of snow”

The Spaniard Kilian Jornet is informing the public significantly more incommunicative than Kuriki about the progress of his Everest expedition, also on the north side. “We continue with the acclimatization,” the 28-year-old tweeted a week ago. “There’s a lot of snow, but everything is okay.” Since then there has been silence. Kilian wants – as you could also read in my blog – to speed climb Everest: in a single push from the Rongbuk monastery to the summit, without bottled oxygen and Sherpa support. It is possible for both Kuriki and Jornet will get stuck in the snow or they will battle through it. So it will remain interesting.

Schoolchildren in Thulosirubari

… go! Not only Olympic athletes are currently waiting for this call. People in Thulosirubari are in the starting blocks too. Hopefully we are only few days away from the start of the construction of the new school at this small village in Sindhupalchowk District in Nepal. According to the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” finally all bureaucratic barriers have been broken down so that the school for 700 children and adolescents in Thulosirubari can be rebuilt. That has been and will be the goal of the aid project “School up!” that I had launched along with the professional climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria and Ralf Dujmovits from Germany a year ago. The “Gerlinde and Ralf School”, which had been inaugurated only in 2009, was so badly damaged by the devastating earthquake in Nepal on 25 April 2015 that it had to be demolished.

Long and winding road

Stones for the new school

“We are going to do our next meeting with the contractor this week, after that we’ll start the work,” Arjun Gatraj, the chairman of the school committee in the village, which lies some 70 kilometers east of Kathmandu, writes to me. Sunil Shrestha and Shyam Pandit, the liaison men of “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal, have completed a truly “Olympic program” in recent months to obtain all permits and stamps for the construction project. Those who (often with good reason) complain about cumbersome and excessive bureaucracy in western countries could experience in Nepal that an increase is possible: The road through the involved authorities is even much longer and more winding. Many employees in Nepalese offices feel and act just as if they were little kings, because they know that things cannot go on without their permission.

Only two-storied buildings

The new school building is to be built here

Thanks to Sunil and Shyam this probably most difficult phase of the project is now behind us. In the first of three construction stages the first building section with classrooms is to be built. The Nepalese government has ruled that due to the risk of earthquakes only two-storied school buildings should be built in the future – in the form of the letters H or U. Of course, I will continue to keep you up to date about what will happen in Thulosirubari. Arjun will provide me with first-hand information and pictures of the construction progress.

Thanks to your donations the construction is about to start at all. So far we have collected more than one third of the required sum. We need more donations for “School up!” to finance also the second and third construction phase. Here again the bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Please tell others as well! Thank you so much!

P.S.: If you want to read my previous articles on this subject – including those about my visit in the earthquake region last March – simply click on the top bar at “School up!”, there you will find all posts concerning our aid project.

The school in Thulosirubari is going to be demolished

It was simply too dangerous. In the village of Thulosirubari in the Nepalese earthquake zone, residents and helpers of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have begun to remove the debris of the school. The building that was heavily damaged by the quake on 25 April “stands dangerously on the side of the ground where children use to play”, Arjun Gatraj, chairman of the School Management Committee, writes to me. As reported, the ground floor of the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” had collapsed, the building cannot be maintained. “These days, we have the big problem on how to destroy the main building and how to clear the rubble”, says Arjun. “We have no money for that ant the Government of Nepal is also not able to support us.”

Highly motivated

The school, that was built and maintained by the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, was inaugurated in 2009. The professional climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had made the construction possible with their financial support. Before the earthquake, 700 students per year attended the school. They came not only from Thulosirubari but from other small mountain villages in Sindhulpalchowk District too. The students are now taught in tin sheds, in groups of up to 70 students. “The temporary classrooms have proved to be useful”, Arjun writes. “The teaching is more or less the same as before the earthquake, but there is a great lack of teaching materials and school furniture. The children are just as excited to learn even after the earthquake.”

No family left the village

Living and learning in tin sheds

In Thulosirubari, located about 40 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu as the crow flies, 75 people died in the earthquake, among them seven students of the “Gerlinde and Ralf School”. The villagers have overcome the monsoon – most of them in shanties with corrugated iron roofs and tarpaulins to protect against heavy rainfall. Despite the difficult living conditions, no family has left the village because of the earthquake, says Arjun. “They are struggling with the current situation. Those families who were temporary staying in Kathmandu returned to the village. The greatest concern of the people in Thulosirubari is: How can they build new and safe houses again? And who can rebuild the school for their children?” But of course they do not have the money for that. “So please help us to rebuild it!”, Arjun Gatraj appeals.

Every Euro or Dollar helps

This is precisely the goal of the fundraising campaign “School Up!” which I started in late June along with Gerlinde and Ralf. With your help, we want to ensure that the school in Thulosirubari will be rebuilt as soon as possible. The campaign had a promising start, but it is like being on expedition: If you have left the base camp, you are still far from the summit. You need patience and staying power. Once again, here are the bank details:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Every single Euro, Pound or Dollar is helping. A big thank you in advance to all donators!

70 students per class

Discussions under trees

Meanwhile teachers have resumed the lessons, in sheds made from bamboo, wood and CGI sheets. “But the children are not safe enough to stay inside these temporary learning buildings because they cannot protect them when rain and wind take place at the same time”, Arjun, chairperson of the School Management Committee of Thulosirubari wrote to me. The “Gerlinde and Ralf School”, which was only inaugurated in 2009, was – as reported before – so badly damaged that it must be completely demolished. “Almost all of the furniture and teaching materials were destroyed too”, Arjun said. “In our leisure time, we and the teaching staff are now using the ground under a tree to discuss the teaching and learning methodologies.” Due to the lack of rooms, the classes have been merged, they now have about 70 students each. “The teachers are feeling that it is problematic to teach them effectively under these conditions.”

“Everybody joined the work”

Opening of the school in 2009

This is reminiscent of the period before the construction of the school. “When we were in Thulosirubari for the first time, we met children who were taught sitting on the floor due to the lack of school furniture,” says Gerlinde. “The small classrooms were overcrowded.” At that time, the idea was born to build a larger school together with the Nepalhilfe Beilngries. “Everybody joined the work, the childrens’ parents, whether men or women, all helped. Eighteen months later, the new school building was finished”, the Austrian mountaineer, who was the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen, recalls. ”I’ll never forget the moment when we were standing in front of more than five hundred students who were so incredibly happy about their new school. It was a wonderful day.”

Dangerous way to school

Lessons for many students

Only the memory remains – and the ruins of a school, which was once a symbol of hope for a better future. In the village, hostels are also missing for students and teachers who are coming from outside to stay. “The students have to walk for hours to attend the lessons”, Arjun Gatraj wrote. “But now their way to school is more dangerous due to the earthquake.” After all, said Arjun, Thulosirubari has been spared from floods and landslides in the monsoon so far, so that there is no need to worry about the crops and plantations. “The villagers are thinking more of their children’s future than their own lives.” And that will be decided in the classroom. “Let’s combine our efforts to rebuild the school”, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner appeals – even to you. You can ensure with your donations for our project “School up!” that the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” will soon be more than just a memory.

You can transfer money to this bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

P.S. I’ll be on holidays till the end of July. But you won’t have to miss my blog completely. Next week I’ll publish a series in occasion of the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn.

The School in Thulosirubari after the earthquake

It looked as if the magician David Copperfield had staged one of his grand illusions. “The school was much smaller than I remembered it”, Ralf Dujmovits tells me. “First I didn’t even realize that the ground floor had just slumped down. The upper parts of the building were still standing. Only when I got loser, I saw the extent of damage. That really brought tears to my eyes.” Germany’s most successful high altitude climber visited the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” in Thulosirubari one and a half weeks after the devastating earthquake in Nepal. Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had given financial support to the project of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” and thus had made it possible that the school had been opened in 2009. “If you suddenly realize that the building has to be demolished, you just begin to cry”, says Ralf. You all can help to rebuild the school by supporting the campaign “School up!”.

Guaranteed for the benefit of the people in Nepal

In recent weeks, I have written repeatedly about the consequences of the earthquake in Nepal. Many have asked me how they can help the people in the country directly – with the guarantee that their money does not disappear into dark channels. So the idea was born to use my blog to give my determined support to a specific aid project. I will provide you with first-hand information and reports on the progress of the project. That way I want to document that the people in Nepal really benefit from the donations. I have a longtime friendship with Gerlinde and Ralf. So the choice fell on the School of Thulosirubari that needs to be demolished after the described earthquake “write-off”.

Nothing but a pile of rubble

The village Thulosirubari is located near the city of Chautara, about 40 kilometers as the crow flies east of the capital Kathmandu. “Far away from the famous trekking routes, really isolated”, says Ralf. “You can reach Thulosirubari on partially adventurous gravel roads. You don’t pass by coincidentally. You really must want to go there.” More than 5,000 people are living in the village, which is part of Sindhupalchowk District. In no other district of Nepal more people died in the quake. 3,440 of the more than 8,700 dead, who were registered by the Government of Nepal, came from Sindhupalchowk. “In some villages, only ten percent of the houses remained. The rest is nothing but a pile of rubble.”

Place of energy

Gerlinde and Ralf at the opening in 2009, on their right Austrian climber Theo Fritsche who helped to build three schools with Nepalhilfe Beilingries

Before the earthquake, 700 students per year attended the “Gerlinde and Ralf School”. “They come from far away, some have to walk up for two hours to reach the school”, says Ralf. “It is located on top of a hill. From there you have a great view of the mountains in Langtang. For me it was always a place of power where I felt a lot of positive energy.” With your help this place of energy is to be restored as fast as possible. “The whole nation is set back if education is missing. That is the real disaster”, says Ralf Dujmovits. “It’s mainly the education of young people that pushes a country forward.” The reconstruction of the school can also help to keep the rural exodus from the region around Thulosirubari within a limit. “It is important that people feel at home there”, says Ralf. “And that parents can hope that their children have a future despite the earthquake. “ So, let us tackle! School up!
Here are the bank account data of the donation campaign in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner at the ISPO

It has become quieter around Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. A fact that she actually likes. The 44-year-old Austrian is still a sought-after speaker. So Gerlinde can not complain about a lack of work. But she has enough time to travel around. Without any pressure – that disappeared after she had successfully completed her big project by climbing K 2 in 2011: She was the first and so far only woman in the world who climbed all 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen. Our paths crossed on Mount Everest in 2005, when she tried (in vain) with Ralf Dujmovits and Hirotaka Takeuchi to climb the North Face and I reported about it. In 2010, she reached the summit via the Tibetan normal route. I met Gerlinde at the trade fair ISPO in Munich a week ago and we talked about Everest.

Gerlinde, you climbed Mount Everest as well as the other 13 eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen. At the moment there are a lot of discussions about what happens on the highest of all mountains, especially because of the avalanche disaster and the subsequent end of all expeditions on the Nepalese side in spring 2014. The Sherpas revolted. Did this conflict boil up and over?

Probably, the anger had been building up over years, this feeling of the Sherpas that they are exploited. I think something must happen on Everest, the situation cannot continue.

Much traffic on Everest (in 2012)

Who is required?

Both sides need to rethink. Even though I never used the support of Sherpas on my expeditions, I know from talking to them that they appreciate the expeditions, because they benefit from it. I am often asked: The Sherpas earn near to nothing, don’t they? But I learned from reliable sources that they earn comparatively much money and that they are really able to feed their families for one year with their income of an Everest climbing season. On the other hand, I understand that they don’t want to take these increased hazards any more.
Many climbers on Everest take advantage of the Sherpa support, but don’t talk about the fact that they are using it. In fact, there is a lack of appreciation. It would be nice if those who go to Everest would climb more on their own authority. They should seek more cooperation with the Sherpas, rather than only demanding what has to happen. The transport of material to the high camps, all the oxygen bottles, this has reached a level that I really fail to comprehend.

But Everest is a fully commercialized mountain. Isn’t it naive to think that anything will change? Due to the fact that there is so much infrastructure, Everest will always attract some people who don’t belong there, considering their mountaineering skills.

That’s true, for sure. In recent years, there were many people on Everest who actually had no relation to mountaineering but only wanted to realize their dream of climbing the highest mountain in the world – no matter the cost, no matter by what means. This has taken a direction that is absolutely not good. Quite the contrary. Maybe it’s really naive to think that this will change. But hope is the last to die.
Actually, everyone knows that we cannot continue in this way and that something has to happen. The only question is, what exactly. Many talk about it, me too. But in the end, no one has any real idea that could seriously make a difference and lead to change. The Sherpas revolt. Some told me that they don’t want to go to Everest anymore, because they have earned enough money. Many of them are now living abroad, many in America. Others continue to climb Everest because they need the money to give their children a good education. It’s really a sensitive and difficult issue.

My feeling is that the responsibility is shifted back and forth. The operators accuse the government and vice versa. The Sherpas complain about the operator and the government. But they don’t sit down around a table and agree on a common line.

That’s precisely what’s missing, that they all sit around a table, each putting back his ego a bit, committed to find a reasonable solution. And it doesn’t look as if it’s going to happen in the near future.

Base camp below the Everest North Face

Against this background, are you happy that you checked off the chapter Everest?

I don’t want to call it checked off. But I’m definitely happy that, in 2010, I had the good fortune to scale the mountain on a day when only very few people were climbing. It was snowing, it was cloudy, I had no view at the top. But it was quiet on the mountain. I can’t say that I enjoyed the time at the summit, because the climb had been just too strenuous. But I was glad to have made it.
Furthermore, we had pitched our tents in base camp below the North Face. We were alone, it was quiet there – at this really busy mountain. I enjoyed this loneliness and I’m still happy having experienced it this way.

In all the discussions about Everest, too often one point is not mentioned: that there is still the possibility to experience real mountaineering adventures on Everest, e.g. at the North Face or the Kangshung Face. There are still playgrounds, aren’t they?

Of course, for real mountaineers there is still plenty to do on Everest. I don’t know whether someone will go to the North Face this year. There you can find pure loneliness. In the base camp, you are only joined by snow grouses. Otherwise, it is extremely quiet, and you have the view of the North Face. You won’t meet anyone at the Kangshung Face too. Only the normal routes, where ropes are fixed up to top, are crowded. I don’t want to call all these people mountaineers. Of course, there are these and those kinds of people. But there are many people on Everest that really don’t belong there.