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Title	2013 Feb - Deerwalk Hiking for Education to Tile Ghar
Route	Kathmandu >> Tile Ghar>> Thankot>> Kathmandu
Date	Feb 3, 2013
Hike Duration	3 hrs
Coordinator	Kanchan Raj Pandey
Participants	Abanish Kayastha, Biswas Lohani, Kanchan Raj Pandey, Kapil Pandey, Narayan Sonepa, Pramod Kumar Rai, Raghu Nath Pathak, Surendra Nath Adhikari, Swoyambhu Shrestha.
Photos By	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Narayan Sonepa
Report By	Narayan Sonepa, Swoyambhu Shrestha
Creative Support	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Rinesh N Bajracharya
Edited By	Rinesh N Bajracharya

Narayan Sonepa Education is the first and foremost important infrastructure for the development of society, nation and the world. With the motive to support needy students of Nepal, Everest Uncensored in collaboration with Deerwalk Services has taken an initiative and created the program Hiking for Education (HIFE). For our first HIFE we visited Dilli Sabitri Secondary School in Tile Ghar. A total of 10 employees from Deerwalk Services and guests from Rudra dai's family participated in the HIFE. Most of us gathered in Deerwalk office by 8:15am. We stopped at Naubise for breakfast at the famous Banepali Khaja Ghar. Then we started our journey towards the school. The school was situated nearby the main highway so we didn't have to walk much. As examination was going on, there were few students in the school. So, we only could interact with the school management committee. The school is one of the oldest in Nepal, and it used to teach in Sanskrit language. With the effort from the schools management committee and donations from the local people, the school has been able to manage solid infrastructures. Our discussion was mainly focused on how Deerwalk services could help the school and its students. We had a two hours long discussion with the school management committee. To our surprise, we learned that many students were forced to quit school without completing their education due to the poor economic condition. The annual school fee was NRs. 2000 only, which is considerable a petty amount compared to the importance of a year of schooling. So, with due respect I would like to raise a simple question to the whole Deerwalk family: Are you kind and bold enough to give away NRs. 150-200 per month for a needy student who wants to go to school and do something with his life. Its time for introspection and empathize with the plight that the misfortunates are under. We work for a software company and are pretty well off in our own worlds. But when we are made aware of things like the one we came across at the school; do we just let them be or do we help to make something happen. I think everyone of us would want to do something rather than just sympathize. So, let’s all join hands and do something about it. After the interaction program was over, we started on the hike. We reached our destination in about 2hr 30mins. The ups and downs, river banks and terrace farming sceneries were awesome. We enjoyed the view of the beautiful landscape. After we reached the destination, we rested for a while before having snacks in a nearby resort. We enjoyed the conversation with our seniors. They were very much open and fun loving people. We were a hiking team who were having good time. The most enjoyable moment was playing cards in the vehicle itself while returning to Kathmandu. The first HIFE met its purpose, which was to try to make a difference; I believe we can and will succeed. Swoyambhu Shrestha Frank Serafini says, “There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book.” This might sound obvious to most of us, especially to ones who haven't seen the real face of our country. But what will a child do if he has nothing to read? You don't need to go far, just after a drive of about an hour outside the valley we come across areas where just having a notebook or a pencil means a lot to a child. Hiking for Education (HIFE) is an initiative taken by Everest Uncensored, in collaboration with Deerwalk, with the motive to support education for needy students in Nepal. Individuals interested to contribute to this initiative can do so by hiking with us and voluntarily donating to this cause. We had two social workers and seven members from Deerwalk family participating in the first HIFE. We started our journey from Deerwalk premises with full spirit to hike and help. After a quick breakfast at Naubise, we started our hike from Tile Ghar. After a short walk, we reached a small school named “Shree Dilli Sabitri Secondary School”. We met the school management team there and discussed the problems they were facing and how we could help. Continuing our discussion, we came to know that the school lacked facilities like computer lab, science lab equipments and sports materials. With stiff competition from surrounding private schools, the number of admissions in this public school was decreasing every year. The school aims to provide quality education to all. In fact, it was quite surprising to me that charges for the primary level of courses were free and the yearly fees for secondary level was at most Rs. 2000 per student. Books were provided by the government of Nepal. We also discussed about possible ways to offer scholarships to deserving students. After few hours of discussion with a promise to help as much as we could, we left the school and continued with our hike. This was an easy hike but the trail was interesting. Going through typical Nepali houses, villages and breathing in fresh air was really a good break after staying in the valley for several months. We climbed up and met the highway. This was another thrilling part of the journey. Despite hot road, the huge vehicles passing inches away from us was scarily fun. After then, we again continued our hike up to Pataleban Vineyard Resort. This was really a great resort made on top of a hill. The specialty of the place was the grape wine that they produce themselves. Sadly, we couldn't taste that as we were there in the off season. After quick refreshment and refill, we packed up and returned home. All these memories are permanently stamped in my mind. This was my first hike and yet a great adventure with fellow Deerwalkers. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Deerwalk family for giving me this opportunity and convey my respect for such useful and strong initiative as HIFE.

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