Facilitating Change From Within - The Mountain Fund

The Voice of People Who Care About Mountain Communities and Their Environments:

The Mountain Fund is a new nonprofit with an innovative approach to alleviating the extreme poverty that is prevalent in the mountainous areas of the world. The Mountain Fund knows that humanitarian crises cannot be solved in isolation. A holistic approach is taken addressing both the root causes of extreme poverty and its myriad devastating effects on mountain communities and environments. Small grassroots organizations have banned together to form The Mountain Fund.
In mountain communities across the globe, The Mountain Fund improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of their communities. More than fundraisers, The Mountain Fund is a partner in change, working with a broad range of people, organizations and government agencies to identify and resolve pressing community and environmental issues in mountainous regions.

To achieve measurable, lasting change, The Mountain Fund identifies and builds on community strengths and assets, helps individuals and groups within specific communities find ways to contribute their time and talents, supports direct-service programs and community-change efforts, and advocate for public policy changes.

Because of the unique conditions in diverse mountain communities, the issues The Mountain Fund addresses are determined locally. Challenges ranging from basic health care, fair treatment of porters, education of impoverished children and protection of the mountain environment are on the agenda for The Mountain Fund. Depending on the issue and how the community chooses to address it, The Mountain Fund works with local governments, community groups, other nonprofits or NGO's and dedicated individuals.

Although priorities for Mountain Fund action are set locally, common themes include:

• Healthcare for children and families.
• Human rights, particularly for women and other marginalized groups.
• Promoting self-sufficiency, education, language skills, and fair labor practices.
• Volunteer programs, sustainable travel and cultural exchange.
• Building vital mountain communities and environments in the poorest places on earth.

Here is just a small sample of 2005 successes:

PUBLIC HEALTH. -Karing for Kids Mother and Child Clinic in Nepal. Raised almost $12,000 through fundraising in the U.S. and organized a week long training for traditional birth attendants- the first training of its kind in the Tamang villages the clinic serves. -Facilitated the startup of a village committee at Thulo Syabru with the goal of creating a health clinic for that community in 2006. -Partnered with Engineers Without Borders and conducted a site study with their representatives at three Tamang villages who are without clean water or toilets.

PORTERS' RIGHTS -International Mountain Explorers Connection opened two new locations for porter clothing banks, one in Pokhara near Annapurna and another near the Langtang trek trailhead. -Donated $1000 to International Porter Protection Group toward the cost of a solar electrical system for the porters hut and rescue post at Machermo in Nepal. -Obtained $3600 grant to study the possibility of a porter program in Pakistan.

ORGANIZATIONAL ASSISTANCE. -Helped Kelly Walters form Himalayan Outreach Project-Nepal and assisted with fundraising, finding supplies and recruiting volunteers. -Started and funded a micro-finance program in Peru for street vendors. -Hosting and organizing a charity trek in July in Peru to raise the money needed to open a much needed porter assistance project through IMEC in Cusco.

EDUCATION/PROMOTION -Mountain Fund and Anatoli Boukreev Fund organized and hosted Alexander Ruchkin's appearance at Harvard Mountaineering Club, American Alpine Club and Neptune Mountaineering. This is in keeping with the Boukreev Fund's mission to promote interaction between the US climbing community and that of the former Soviet Union. -Education of the public about the issues affecting mountain communities and the organizations working on those issues at events like the Outdoor Retailer Show, Ouray Ice Fest, American Alpine Club meeting and Taos Mountain Film Fest and other venues. -Our newsletter and website provide further education and awareness on the work of our partners. Thousands of individuals have been reached through our promotion and marketing.

Most importantly the 32 organizations that we support have come to the aid of thousands of the most impoverished people around the world. A couple of examples: 7000 individuals have been served by Karing for Kids Mother and Child Health Clinic. 1,788 porters were served by the Kilimanjaro Porter Assistance Project (a program of International Mountain Explorers Connection) alone. Hard numbers are difficult to acquire for the number of people helped by all of our programs. The Mountain Fund is developing methods and standards to record good data on the effectiveness of these projects.

The Mountain Fund is a unique opportunity for those who love the mountains, mountain communities and mountain environments to give something back.

This is who we are, this is what we do.