Chön Zom Elementary School

Chön Zom is located at 4,400 m in the Rombuk valley at the base of Mt. Everest. The school is designed for 140 children from three surrounding villages. Since 1999, approx. 120 children are taught by three Tibetan teachers. Boarding rooms allow children from nomad families of the region to attend classes regularly.

The village is located in central Tibet, on a hill opposite Shisha Pangma mountain. The school in the next village called Shapka is too far away for the 50 village children and the parents wanted to make at least basic elementary education available for the younger kids. Eco Himal provided the funds to turn an existing room into a class room, purchase furniture and teaching materials and pay the salary for one teacher.

Shurtso Elementary School

Shurtso is a small village located at 4,500 m near the Arniko Highway, on the road from Kathmandu to Lhasa. The school buildings were erected in the traditional style with a large walled-in courtyard and include a dining area and teachers quarters. A water tap in the middle of the courtyard provides water. At present, about 50 pupils attend the first three grades, another 50 are planned. The furniture and the flock of sheep are still missing. The school attracts children from a number of small villages in the centre of a wide range, home to the nomads and their herds. This area offers a spectacular view of Cho Oyu and Mt. Everest.

Sangsang Elementary School

Sangsang has a large school with six grades for over 400 pupils as well as boarding facilities housing almost 200 children, mostly from nomad families. In order to improve the cooking facilities for pupils and teachers, Eco Himal plans to electrify the kitchen and teachers' quarters and to purchase beds and mattresses. In return, the school was asked to carry out an environmental program to make the villagers aware of the intolerable garbage problem.A clean-up campaign and measures to ensure proper waste disposal in and around the village was successfully completed in the summer of 2002.

Tsombuk Elementary School- Pictures

The village is located at 4,750 m in the south of the Tibetan plateau, at the base of Mt. Everest. The approx. 100 children had no access to education since the nearest school in Chön Zom is a 4-hour walk away. Since children are needed to share in the workload of families, they could not attend the boarding school in Pasum. The parents were willing to pay the teachers' salary but could not afford the costs for construction and furnishings of a village school. A local elementary school would ensure a better future for the children and preserve the knowledge of the Tibetan language.

Tsombuk school was built in the traditional style with two classrooms for 50-60 pupils and accommodation for two teachers. It started operation at the end of 2002.

Helga Hengge, the first German woman to summit Mt. Everest and return safely, has raised money for the school through her lectures and photo exhibitions in cooperation with Tom Wool.