Friday, July 18, 2014

TO TELL THE UN-TOLD STORIES OF SHERPAS

The interest of journalists -- Deepak Adhikari (Nepal) and Adam Popescu (USA) to work with the project -- Everest Sherpas: The High Price Tourism was triggred by the avalanche on Everest this april.

Adam had earlier been in Nepal in last autumn. He was here to write on the ecological footprints on Everest. When he met Deepak in a restaurant, they discussed about the kind of journalism they were interested in.


During the discussion both of them were in an agreement that there were several swathe of stories yet to be told. And they both found out that the story of Everest was one of them. Deepak could not deny the project when Adam came up with crowd-funding project to tell the stories of invisible people of the Himalayas.


Meet the story-tellers:

Deepak Adhikari is a journalist based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He has extensively written on Nepal’s political transition, evolution of the Maoists and human rights issues surrounding the Maoist insurgency and the lives of Sherpas. His work has appeared in regional and international publications including TIME magazine, Outside magazine, The Caravan, People Magazine, Himal Southasian. 


From November 2010 to February 2014, he served as Nepal correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP), the global news agency. Prior to joining AFP, he worked for Kantipur, Nepal’s largest-selling newspaper. Between 2004 and 2008, he worked as reporter at Nepal Weekly magazine, producing investigative reportages on human trafficking, organ trade and sex industry, that highlighted socio-economic issues of Nepal. 

Profile of Chhurim Sherpa, who had climbed Everest twice in the spring of 2012, becoming the first woman to do (Work by Deepak).

Adam Popescu is based in Los Angeles, USA. His work has been published by Fast Company, Forbes, Mashable, Marketplace Radio and others. In December of 2013 he traveled to Nepal on assignment for the BBC, climbing 18,000 to Everest Base Camp to examine the ecological impacts of tourism. He spent a month climbing in the Himalayas, living amongst the local mountain people. 

Read Deepak's work on Outside Magazine -- The Everest Brawl: A Sherpa's Tale

Here, Deepak explains their project:

We plan to tell stories through text, photos and videos of Sherpas, who live in the shadows of world's highest mountains. Sherpas lead a perilous and hardscrabble life in the rugged terrain. They have helped countless climbers realize their dreams of conquering Everest and other Himayalan peaks. 

Read Deepak's work on Al Jazeera -- Everest disaster prompts calls for reform

There has been some interest on their work in the wake of the disaster on Everest that killed 16 climbers. But they are largely invisible people of the Himalayas. Through our work, we would shed light on these people, their lives and the living conditions in some of the harshest places on earth. We will deliver real journalism by travelling to these places and talking to the Sherpas.

Read Deepak's work for AFP --  Trash From Everest Recycled into Sculpture

So, How people can help you ?

1) Become a backer: By backing the project, we will share our images and stories from the road directly with you over the next year. And your support goes directly to this project.

2) Share the page: We want to get people talking about this, so every  Facebook post or tweet helps to spread the word. 
  
Deepak's work with Johnny Dodd on People Magazine: Tragedy On Mt. Everest

3) Let me know who I should be talking too: We're going to need some sponsors and big donors to get this going. If there's someone that you think would identify with the Everest Sherpas, let me know. I'd love to talk to them.

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