EmpowHer and The International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA) are hosting The Seven Summits Women's Team in Los Angeles, CA to help them get the word out about their organization.

Donate today to help The Seven Summits Women's Team accomplish their mission.

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The Seven Summits Women's Team:

The Seven Summits Women Team was formed in 2008 when the group climbed Mount Everest.  Since then they have visited over 200 schools in Nepal, Australia, Russia, Tanzania, Argentina, and the United States and engaged hundreds of local women in outdoor activities in order to inspire them to participate in activities traditionally considered off limits to women.  The team also promotes environmental conservation with the local communities they visit.  Once they complete their final summit in Antarctica next winter, they intend to compile their experiences into educational material to empower women and youth and draw attention to environmental issues. The team also founded their own trekking agency and climbing school, Everest Women Treks and Expedition, in 2012. The seven members of the team come from diverse backgrounds, and use their personal stories of overcoming poverty and discrimination to inspire women and youth around the world.  Their educational outreach and motivational speeches have gained them worldwide recognition.  Additional information available at: http://sevensummitswomen.org/

Read The Seven Summits Women's Stories below.

Please help them obtain their Goal with a donation today.

The Summit Seven:

Maya Gurung had perhaps the most difficult childhood of all the team members.  She comes from a minority community where child marriage was common.  In order to escape a forced marriage, she ran away from home at age 14 with almost no money and no friends.  After she left, Maya’s father cut all ties with her, and people in her community told their daughters not to be like Maya.  In addition to climbing, Maya has sky-dived near Everest.  She has also been active in other climbing and clean-up expeditions in the Everest region.  Maya’s dream is to see women empowered and educated so that they are able to stand up for themselves. Today the girls in her community say they want to be like Maya.

Pujan Acharya is from the foothills of the Himalaya.  Despite growing up in a society where women are supposed to stick to household chores, Pujan had a passion for sports from an early age.  Growing up, her teammates and competition were almost always men, since there were no women athletes in her village.  An accomplished volleyball player and marathon runner, Pujan holds several awards for competitions at the district level.  Pujan had her first mountaineering experience in 2003 when she completed Female Outdoor Leadership training.  She enjoyed a different view of Everest when she skydived in the region in 2009 from a height of 29,300 feet.  

Nimdoma Sherpa started going to school tempted by the World Food Programme’s afternoon meal.  The nutritious ‘Haluwa’(rice pudding) at school, she remembers, was the sweetest thing she had as a child.  She soon realized that education could give her the power to become whatever she wanted.  Nim then came to Kathmandu to pursue higher education, and ultimately became the first member in her family to finish high school.  She spent a lonely childhood in Kathmandu studying away from her family.  At 17, Nim was the youngest member of the team who summited Everest.  Nim is now a youth icon and a national champion in sports climbing.  Today, World Food Programme Japan is celebrating her success in the country to inspire their youth.

Pema Diki Sherpa is the second of three girls born to a struggling rural family who moved to Kathmandu with her rural family with nothing but the clothes on their backs.  Growing up with a learning disability, Pema praises her parents and teachers for never giving up and encouraging her to pursue an education.  When she is not climbing, Pema enjoys giving motivational talks to students.  She  is an experienced trekking guide who climbs regularly outside of her work with Seven Summits.  On the team, she is always the first person to volunteer when it comes to trying new things.

Chunu Shrestha, who hails from a poor family from Kathmandu, began working to help support her family when she was in fourth grade.  When she heard an all-female expedition was being organized, Chunu was inspired to join the team with the hope that she success in adventure tourism could help her support her family. With her participation in the First Inclusive Women Sagarmatha Expedition in 2008 Chunu was finally able to nurture the passion for the outdoors that she dreamed about during long days of work as a child.  Chunu is known as the caretaker of the group, and is always the first person to notice if someone is hungry, worried, or sick.

Asha Kumari Singh comes from an indigenous minority community in southern Nepal.  In her community, women have few rights, child marriages are common, and a wedding dowry is a cultural requirement.  Asha’s grandmother thought she was the ugliest girl among her six sisters and hence thought it was necessary to educate her, in case nobody wanted her marry her.  When Asha came to Kathmandu to study social work, she took advantage of the opportunity to join the Female Outdoor Leadership training in the Annapurna Mountains in 2004.  As someone from the flat jungle areas of Nepal, she challenged conventions and impressed naysayers when she started climbing mountains.  

Shailee Basnet, the Seven Summit Women Team leader, studied business as an undergraduate and now works as a reporter for Himalmedia.  Lack of involvement in any kind of sports during her early years made Shailee interested in testing her limits as she grew up.  She was drawn to climbing and mountaineering for their intense physical and mental challenges.  Shailee has recently started performing as a stand-up comedian and aspires to be a scriptwriter someday, while continuing to do outdoor sports.   Shailee is a 2011 alumna of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP).

ADDITONAL INFOMATION ABOUT SPONSORS:

EmpowHer Institute is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower marginalized teen girls by helping them gain the skills necessary through education, training and mentorship to seek fulfilling and productive lives. EmpowHer was asked by The International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA), a non-profit organization that implements the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program of professional and cultural exchanges, to host The Seven Summits Women’s Team from Nepal. Additionally, U.S. Bank, a sponsor of EmpowHer, is co-hosting and inviting some of their employees to meet the group from Nepal.

Please help The Seven Summits Women's Team obtain their Goal. Donate Today.