Kangchenjunga School Project: Wellington Talk

 What: Kangchenjunga School Project talk

Where: Tararua Hall, 4 Moncrieff St, Mt Victoria, Wellington

When: 8th February -Doors Open 7.30pm

We invite you and your friends to attend a talk on a humanitarian project in remote Nepal

Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain, rests in the remote nort-eastern corner of Nepal on the border of Tibet and India's Sikkim province. Kiwi Norman Hardie was part of the first ascent in 1954, while in the 1970's the New Zealand Alpine Club staged an expedition to the nearby north face of Jannu, now recognised as one of the toughest challenges in world alpinism. This expedition was famously recorded in Graeme Dingle's book "Wall of Shadows". Less well known though, is that for over 20 years, a small group of ANZAC's have been quietly assisting in the healthcare and education of the local Sherpa people...this talk will tell the story of this project and the effect of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake centred on the area in September last year.

 Australian Cherie Bremer-Kemp made two attempts on the peaks of Kangchenjunga in the 1980's, one of which resulted in the tragic loss of her husband and nearly her own life. She was rescued and cared for by the local Sherpa people, who she pledged to return and assist. She has honoured this pledge, and with the help of her new husband, kiwi Rob Rowlands, has spent the last twenty years building, maintaining and staffing schools and medical clinics in the area. On the projects most recent expedition, Dr Penny Kane, who was asked by Rob and Cherie to provide medical training on womens and childrens health to the local healthcare workers, and her husband Jamie Stewart, were caught up in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake that destroyed one of the schools.

 Cherie, Rob, Penny, and Jamie will all be in Weliington on Wednesday, 8 February, to tell their Kangchenjunga stories and raise money for the rebuild of Folay school. Raffles will be held for valuable autographed books on the area and donations will be accepted. The evening is kindly hosted by the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club.

Some currently school-less children of Folay