The Khumbu Education Fund (KEF) was started by a team of Singaporean mountaineers in 2005, the core of which were pioneers of the Make It Real (MIR) programme. The goal was to put the children of their guide, Mingma, and a few other Sherpa children through school — that meant bringing them from the remote villages in the Himalayas, where opportunities are sparse, to Kathmandu to attend a private school, and committing to fund their entire education onto, hopefully, graduation.
Thirteen years on, even as some of them have long moved on from mountaineering, the team has faithfully contributed year after year. In 2018, the first of these children have graduated: Mingma Dorjee Sherpa, who is the first engineering graduate from the upper Solukhumbu region near Mountain Everest. Read about it HERE
In 2017, MIR pledged to make yearly contributions towards the fund.
Our first fundraising event: belaying at Dairy Farm for a cause!
This year, MIR18 has raised $1203 for the fund via our various fund raising events!
MIR has always been about its legacy. The niche sport of mountaineering requires mentors to groom new and future batches of mountaineers and to make the sport more accessible to our community. We are thrilled to be able to contribute towards our alumni’s project for all they’ve poured into the club over the years.
In the next few years, we look forward to more of these children graduating (one from dentistry and another from medicine) and making landmarks in their community. As the funds required deepens, we hope that future batches of MIR will continue to sow into this project that has made such an impact on their lives.
Nicholas
President
MIR 18
NUS Mountaineering 