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Outside With Your Kids Since 1974

Gloucester Adventure Camp

Outside with your kids since 1976...

GMS Adventure Camp fosters a sense of wonder, environmental stewardship, and critical thinking skills. The open spaces of Essex County serve as a living classroom for campers to learn, appreciate and understand the natural resources of the greater Cape Ann area.

Magic Carpet

The Sherpa School Project, A Documentary

By

Our long time camper and instructor, J. Everest Crawford, is about to embark on a fantastic service project and adventure. Please take the time to look over what Everest will be working on this winter and consider donating something towards his goal. Any amount counts and will go directly to help Everest with his goal of helping his old friend, Tsedam, bring education and enrichment to these Sherpa kids.

The Sherpa School Project, a Documentary

With support from Dartmouth College, SEArts, Society for the Encouragements of the ARTS,  Home Away from Home School, and the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College.

 

Everest Crawford, a junior at Dartmouth College, will be creating, filming and editing this documentary about the unique story of Tsedam Sherpa and the Home Away from Home School he founded in 2009 in the Mount Everest, Khumbu District of Nepal. Before Tsedam founded Home Away from Home, children who lived in the remote villages near Namche Bazaar had virtually no access to primary school education. The closest school, part of the network of Hilary Schools named after the famous British climber, Sir Edmund Hilary, was almost half a day’s walk away, and, as a result the kids in these remote villages were denied the opportunity for even the most basic education.

Everest’s lifelong connection with Tsedam and the region fuel a determination to raise awareness about the story of the Home Away from Home School and the local culture of the high Himalayan village of Namche Bazaar.

What is so special about the Home Away from Home School?

Home Away from Home opened its doors to 15 kids in 2009 and is now at full capacity with 85 kids who would not have access to any education without the services this school offers.

  • It provides basic elementary education and housing for all the children of the region.
  • Today, many Sherpa kids are obliged to study in Kathmandu where their own language and traditions are overlooked or ignored. Kids at Home Away from Home not only follow a traditional academic trajectory, but they also study Sherpa, ensuring the survival of local traditions, culture, language and heritage.
  • For the first time in their lives the students are exposed to basic music and art,
  • Everest plans to introduce them to basic photography, film, and even animation. 

What can we do to help the Home Away from Home School?

Today, this school needs our help in order to continue offering education and housing for all the Sherpa kids of the Mount Khumbu District.

  • With 85 students, the school is at full capacity and can no longer continue to service the needs of the region. It needs funding to expand its space and staff in order to accept more kids.
  • The school needs to establish a scholarship fund for kids who cannot afford to attend.
  • The music program does not have enough instruments for every kid to learn and practice.
  • Many of the kids and teachers need new winter coats to stay warm!

 
Project Budget

  • In country travel, housing and food, including transportation from Kathmandu to Namche Bazaar, Mt. Everest visa and park permits, and porters to assist with equipment: $3400
  • Editing and audio equipment: $1600
  • Donation to the scholarship fund: $1000
  • Social Media marketing $400

Total Budget: $6400

  • Optional film equipment to enhance video and audio quality: $4000

 
Project Timeframe

  • 30 days of onsite filming in December 2017 and January 2018
  • Editing of the audio and footage in February and March 2018
  • Airing of the film and speaking engagements for Tsedam to come and tell his story in April 2018

 
A Note from the Creator and Filmmaker, J. Everest Crawford

Raising awareness about Tsedam’s school, helping to fund its growth, is very important to me. I am immensely grateful to Tsedam for offering me this opportunity, a chance to document his amazing work and hopefully attract scholarship funds. I will let the images speak for themselves, doing my best to capture on camera the reasons Home Away from Home is so important. Supporting Tsedam’s love and dedication through his own voice, the kids he oversees, and the landscape surrounding them.

I plan to cover the costs of airfare to and from Kathmandu myself and will be filming with my current personal digital single lens reflex camera. Any excess funds will go towards the purchase of a professional camera and then into the scholarship fund for the school.

The finished product will be shown at Dartmouth College as well as several other locations. Tsedam will be able to visit Dartmouth in Summer 2018, and we hope to show how valuable supporting his scholarship is.

Thank you for donating! This film project will bring awareness to the Home Away from Home School!

Namaste,

Everest Crawford, Tsedam, and the kids and teachers of the Home Away from Home School

How Can You Support The Sherpa School Film Project?

  • Send your 100% tax free donation check to: seARTS * PO Box 1476 * Gloucester, MA 01930
  • Make a donation on my non-profit YouCaring page at: youcaring.com/sherpaschool
  • Call 978-853-7873 if you need any assistance.
  • You will receive a thank you note from Everest and the Sherpa School kids and be invited to the first screenings of the film in The Greater Boston area!
  • All extra funds donated after the Sherpa School budget is satisfied will be deposited in the Scholarship Fund of Home Away From Home School.

You can also go directly to the giving link here: