As you all know in October I’m off to nepal to volunteer for three months, Raleigh is giving me this amazing opportunity for free so I would love to be able to raise some money to keep this amazing charity going but also for supplies for the people in the community. In Nepal the work focuses on delivering awareness raising, peer to peer education and skills training in key areas of community resilience, such as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Entrepreneurship Development and Community-based Natural Resource Management.

Nepal is among the poorest countries in the world and the second poorest country in Asia, with 23.8% of its people living below the poverty line. Inequality remains a major challenge; only 6% of women are in formal employment, and only 10% of working women receive payment for their work. The poorest are also most at risk to climate change and natural hazards – Nepal is the fourth most climate vulnerable country in the world.

On April 25th 2015, Nepal experienced a devastating earthquake in which over 8,000 people lost their lives. More than 22,000 people were injured and over 800,000 houses were destroyed. Due to the country’s high levels of inequality and poverty it was poor and rural communities that suffered most. They lost the ability to provide for themselves even the most basic needs of food, water and shelter. Raleigh will focus on strengthening the resilience of these communities for some of the challenges that lie ahead.