INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JUNE 12It was in 1981, Sir Graham Wrigley KCMG, at the age of 19, met legendary mountaineer Sir Edmund
Hillary in Khumjung village of the Everest region.
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The
45-minute conversation with Sir Ed energised Graham to collect funds for a cause
The fundraising continued for over eight years."Then, Sir Ed introduced me to George Lowe and together with Mary Lowe and my father Ian
Wrigley, the Himalayan Trust UK was created in 1989," Graham recounted.
Talking exclusively to The Himalayan Times in
Kathmandu, Graham, Chairman of the Himalayan Trust, UK said that the trust's main motive was to serve the Himalayan communities."In Khumbu
region, the trust, together with Australian and New Zealand support rebuilt 166 classrooms in 47 schools," he said.The trust has also been
providing the George Lowe scholarship to students in the Everest region.Remembering Joe Brown and George Band who first scaled Mt
Kanchenjunga in 1955, most of the trust's programmatic work has now moved to the Kanchenjunga area of Taplejung district
"We have been working in the Kanchenjunga area since 2005 and we look after 35 schools and four health clinics," Graham said, adding that
the Kanchenjunga area was less developed in comparison to the Everest region
According to him, the trust has now been working in Yamphudin, Taplethok, Lelep, Ikhabu and Olangchunggola, targeting a total population of
over 7,000 in remote Taplejung district.Sharing his experience in working with Nepali communities for over four decades, Graham described
that Nepalis were wonderful people."Mountain people are so hard-working and generous," he said, "It's very hard to retain teachers and
health workers in the remote areas of the mountain region." Emulating the work of Sir Ed in Khumbu, the trust also introduced a health
programme in 2013 to the Taplejung area to transform community health by encouraging healthier lifestyles and better use of the available
medical care.Talking about the impact of the trust's support, Graham, who is also former chairman of British International Investment PLC,
said that besides rebuilding schools, hostels or health posts as well as providing training to teachers and health workers, the Himalayan
Trust's work is all about building human capital
"In the last 20 years, we provided training to over 750 teachers and improved the quality of around six million lessons benefiting more than
20,000 children in the mountain region," he said
This work is carried out by their trusted local partners – REED, AFN, and Himalayan Trust Nepal, providing education expertise, rebuilding
a health post with birthing centre, and scholarships for local women to train as midwives and health workers.As he looked at the other needs
in the mountains of Nepal, Graham also established a separate venture called Samriddha Pahad, in 2010, which was aimed at securing access to
finance for mountain communities, "We said we should go to areas where there is no bank but there is the potential of livelihood," he said
Thirteen years later over 25,000 people in over 120 communities have now received access to finance
Now Samriddha Pahad is working closely with KCMA to help develop sustainable tourism in Kanchenjunga – bringing high economic impact, but
low environmental impact tourist to this beautiful, but economically poor area.After quitting a lucrative business career, Graham has
shifted his vision to social services."Ever since I came to Nepal in 1981, I was inspired by Sir Ed as well as the generosity and humility
I feel very lucky to be in this field as business and development sectors are interconnected," he said.Graham also recounted that when he
was the chairman of British International Investment they created the first Nepal office
"BII had not made any investment in Nepal 10 years ago, but now $150 million has been invested," he shared.As part of its annual lecture
series, the trust is hosting the 70th anniversary lecture tomorrow (June 13) at the Royal Geographical Society where Peter Hillary and
Jamling Tenzing will reflect on their fathers' remarkable international partnership that took humanity to the Earth's highest reaches
Besides, Stephen Venables, Kenton Cool, Dawa Yangzun Sherpa, and Hari Budha Magar will explore the impact 1953 has had on their climbs and
ambitions, why 1953 was so pioneering, what Everest is like today and how it inspires people to 'climb their own Everests'.A version of this
article appears in the print on June 13, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
