The Pearl Lotus Fund.
Updated: Oct 6
Mingma and Louise were in Kathmandu when the great earthquake struck in 2015. They threw themselves into supporting the rebuild, and from that experience came Mindful Adventures, not-for-profit treks into the Himalayas that combine mindfulness practice with hands on charity work.
From here, they founded The Pearl Lotus Fund, an Australian-registered charity with tax deductible status. Today, it helps children living in poverty go to school, supports professionals in learning to manage stress, and has a new project of helping to rebuild schools damaged by the earthquake, one classroom at a time.
Meet Louise and Mingma, the married founders of the Pearl Lotus Fund.
Mingma Chhiring Sherpa was born in the shadow of Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, and grew up in a remote vertical village steeped in Sherpa culture. The child of subsistence farmers, by the age of eleven, he was living alone in a jungle hut, fending for himself and caring for his buffalo.
With 20 years' experience as a high-altitude mountain guide, Mingma has walked the length of the Nepal Himalayas. He's known for his big heart, his deep knowledge of Himalayan culture, and his passion for changing the lives of children growing up in poverty.
Dr Louise Hayes is an Australian psychologist who has spent years helping teenagers. She is the author of four books and developed a therapeutic model used around the world to support young people. She has trained over 20,000 health professionals on working with young people.
The DNA-V model is an evidence-based psychological framework grounded in ACT, positive psychology, and evolutionary science. It was created by Dr. Louise Hayes and Dr. Joseph Ciarrochi (with Ann Bailey). It uses a developmental lens to help young people understand their own behaviour and emotions and has been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety and building psychological flexibility in young people.
Challenges in Nepal
Glacier lake outburst flood. The glacier collapse, landslides and flash flood on August 26 killed over 1450 people, with over 6,000 still missing, and destroyed dozens of hydroelectric plants, bridges, roads and villages. Many families in the region have lost the main breadwinner.
2015 Earthquake recovery. The country is still working to rebuild public buildings like schools and hospitals, especially in remote regions. It is still dealing with psychological trauma.
Poverty. The average Nepali worker earns $10/day. The average subsistence farmer earns $9.50 per week. An absolute entry-level casual worker in an Australian fast-food outlet earns more in a single 8-hour shift (~$192 AUD) than the average worker in Nepal earns in an entire month (~$145 to $180 AUD)
Schools and education. 10 out of every 100 of kids aged 5-12 are completely missing out on any formal education, and 73 never finish secondary school. Only 11% of school buildings in Nepal are structurally earthquake-resistant, and many lack basic sanitation facilities like private toilets.
In short, the most vulnerable people are children living in poor, remote villages with little or no education who are facing threats from disasters like floods and earthquakes.
And you can help.
$1 per month, or $12 today, will educate a child for a year.
Climate Change isn’t evenly distributed
Who is responsible?
Nepal has contributed 0.01% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Australia emits ~22.3 tonnes of greenhouse gas per person per year. This is the highest among developed nations. The average Nepali emits ~1.8 tonnes.
Who is affected?
Nepal is uniquely vulnerable. Being literally at the top of the world, Nepal faces greater risks from climate change. As temperatures change, glaciers retreat and become unstable, natural disasters increase, and growing conditions change. This has led to devastating human, economic, and natural consequences.
As natural disasters become more devastating and more frequent, they shrink Nepal’s economy and cost more to respond to. The repair bill for just the infrastructure damaged by the August 26th disaster is roughly US$5 billion, or 2% of Nepal’s GDP.
Who should act? And what should we do?
We should.
Yes, of course other people should: governments should; billionaires should; multinational exploiters and extractors should. That’s true, too.
But if you just accept that your backyard extends to people in other parts of the world, that people with fewer resources to respond shouldn’t be expected to sort it all out themselves, then you’ll probably move towards what’s right for you. In any community, we all have a responsibility to do what we can with what we have to make sure everyone has a reasonable chance at dignity, health and safety.
So let’s do that.
