In 2017 we ran our first Build and Trek expedition, where 15 colleagues and friends came to Nepal to help build a school that they exclusively had funded through sponsorship. For team members, this gave them a real sense of what was involved in such a project, and real “hands-on” experience.

 

Working closely with the Nepal Youth Foundation, who project managed the build on a tight budget, they worked long days in the sun to get the job done, and probably saved the project around 60-man days of labour. Camping on site, they cleared old materials and prepared the site for builders to start the build process.

 

School continued unabated whilst all this was happening, so build work would stop for school assembly and playtime of course! Over the two week expedition, they also trekked in the Pokhara area reaching the top of Poon Hill at dawn, in time to see the sun come up over two of the highest mountains in the world. 

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Subsequently the following year members of the team revisited the site for a grand opening ceremony of 8 brand new classrooms, bringing family and friends to enjoy the experience and understand why their loved ones had become so obsessive about the project.