April 6, 2006
Nepal Mountain News
A nine-member team of mountaineers from seven different countries including Palestine, Israel and Nepal, announced its plan to scale Everest to spread the message of world peace. The multi-religious group consisting of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jews will scale the 8848-metre high peak under the umbrella of Everest Peace Project. “We are organising a history-making Everest climb to spread the message of peace in the world. And Nepal needs peace as much as any other country,� said Jamie McGuinness, an atheist and the climbing director from New Zealand. The team intends to send a message of peace, teamwork and cultural understanding from the top of the world.
“Our message is clear: That in a climate of peace, all cultural, religious and political barriers can be broken and that through friendship and teamwork, even the tallest mountain poses no obstacle,� said Lance Trumbull, the team leader. The peace team will gather at the summit of Mount Everest and fly the United Nation’s flag. The team will attempt to scale the mountain from the Tibetan side. “Heroic stories and images motivate people. Our Everest ascent for the cause of peace will provide the world with inspirational stories, images and videos that portray courage, friendship and teamwork,� Trumbull said. The Everest Peace Project will also make a documentary film tentatively titled “A Climb for Peace.� Panasonic is a major sponsor of the project. Asked about the response to the project in Palestine and Israel, Ali Bushnag of Palestine said: “This kind of project has never been attempted before. All my friends and family members have been supportive but around 50 per cent of people I met were still against it.� “Some people were cynical but, by and large, the response has been good back home,� said Micha Yaniv and David Dudu of Israel. Other members of the team include Namgyal Sherpa from Nepal, Gautam Patil from India, Tonya Riggs from the United States and Selebelo Selamolela from South Africa. Brad Clement, a high altitude cameraman from USA, is also accompanying the team.
Other News
Multi-Ethnic Team to Scale Mt. Everest for World Peace
A nine-member team of mountaineers from seven different countries including Palestine, Israel and Nepal, announced its plan to scale Everest to spread the message of world peace. The multi-religious group consisting of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Jews will scale the 8848-metre high peak under the umbrella of Everest Peace Project. “We are organising a history-making Everest climb to spread the message of peace in the world. And Nepal needs peace as much as any other country,� said Jamie McGuinness, an atheist and the climbing director from New Zealand. The team intends to send a message of peace, teamwork and cultural understanding from the top of the world.
“Our message is clear: That in a climate of peace, all cultural, religious and political barriers can be broken and that through friendship and teamwork, even the tallest mountain poses no obstacle,� said Lance Trumbull, the team leader. The peace team will gather at the summit of Mount Everest and fly the United Nation’s flag. The team will attempt to scale the mountain from the Tibetan side. “Heroic stories and images motivate people. Our Everest ascent for the cause of peace will provide the world with inspirational stories, images and videos that portray courage, friendship and teamwork,� Trumbull said. The Everest Peace Project will also make a documentary film tentatively titled “A Climb for Peace.� Panasonic is a major sponsor of the project. Asked about the response to the project in Palestine and Israel, Ali Bushnag of Palestine said: “This kind of project has never been attempted before. All my friends and family members have been supportive but around 50 per cent of people I met were still against it.� “Some people were cynical but, by and large, the response has been good back home,� said Micha Yaniv and David Dudu of Israel. Other members of the team include Namgyal Sherpa from Nepal, Gautam Patil from India, Tonya Riggs from the United States and Selebelo Selamolela from South Africa. Brad Clement, a high altitude cameraman from USA, is also accompanying the team.
Other News
- Disabled Nawang plans to scale Mt. Cho-Oyu: The Everest Summiteers Association (ESA) held a programme Tuesday to bid farewell to Nawang Sherpa who has announced his plan to scale the 8,200 meter high Mt Cho-Oyu. To encourage and support Sherpa, all the ESA members, State Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yankila Sherpa, his family and friends were present at the function. Sherpa has already made his mark in mountaineering by setting foot atop Mt.Everest for the first time in 2004 despite his disability. After he met with an accident, an American named Steve Seredo provided him with an artificial leg, which further encouraged him to climb mountains, said Sherpa. He has visited different states in the United States of America where he represented Nepal and took part in seven programs held in Los Angeles about mountaineering. "I believe mountaineering is a sport and as any other sport government should provide with more facility and help to promote it," noted Sherpa.
- Hot climate, drought causing fire incidents: With increasing temperature and prolonging drought, incidents of fire have become rampant throughout the nation, which have claimed 13 human lives, injured many and gutted huge amount of property since January 2006. According to Natural Disaster Management Section of Home Ministry, big fires in the month of March and April gutted around 200 houses in Morang, Sunsari, Bhojpur, Mahottari, Siraha and Dhanusha districts. In the recent fire in Narsingh VDC of Sunsari district, 14 houses and property turned to ashes. A child of seven also lost her life. Similarly, 100 families of fire victims at Bathanaha VDC of Mahottari district were distributed cooking utensils, edibles, tents and clothes as an immediate relief with the initiative of district administration office.
- Housewives give new life to Rani Pokhari fish: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City may have left the 18th century monument of Rani Pokhari uncared for donkey’s years, but some Buddhist women of Tibetan origin are refusing to give up. Some dug into their pockets while others broke open their piggy banks and collectively they pooled money to infuse new life into the monument. The anxious housewives purchased around over 30 tankers of drinking water and poured it into the drying pond, so that they could at least save the fish there. The pond was drying up at an alarming rate because there was no rain last winter and also because the water level has gone down excessively, as a result of too much underground water extraction and surface sealing around the pond area. “It was heart-wrenching to see the pond getting so dry. We come here to feed the fish here everyday and we realised that there was hardly any water, only a layer of mud. We hurriedly put our heads together in our locality. This small effort is the result of our confabulations,� said Chhorten Lama, a housewife from Boudha.