Who are we? Who is involved in this project?

Santaman is an experienced trek guide in Nepal, who has been doing it for more than 16 years, having worked his way from a barefoot porter to running a crew of well-equipped guides throughout the country. Santaman can arrange treks and hikes, as well as peak climbing expeditions, sightseeing and safari trips, whitewater rafting and, in general, all aspects of a holiday in Nepal. Go to the website http://www.nepaltrekguide.com to find out more. Santaman was born in Kaaule, and most of his large family still live there, farming the land. He is the oldest of twelve children, and the only one to have finished school. He is working hard to help his family and his village, and building this school is a dream he’s harbored for a long time.

Misha Kapushesky

Misha came to Nepal for a trekking holiday with his wife Katia and a friend, Alina. We hired Santaman to help us with the trek and discovered an amazing companion, a great friend and a well-read man with a deep perception of his society and of the world at large. We learned a tremendous amount about life in Nepal from Santaman, and we saw first-hand the poverty everywhere in the country we went. When Misha discovered how comparatively little it costs to build a school for children in a Tamang village (less than $15,000! compare this with more than $10,000, on average, that spent annually per pupil in the US), he decided he will take it upon himself to build a school in Kaaule.