“Reaching Basecamp was surreal – I looked around to see lives changing around me - faces glowing with a sense of accomplishment, pride, and strength in a way they never have before.”
Back in April 2024, friend of Passenger and adventure aficionado Kat Craats travelled to Kathmandu, Nepal with a group from the incredible non-profit - Raksha Ascent.
By partnering with local organisations, the charity is able to take groups of underprivileged Nepali women and girls deep into the Himalayas on annual healing treks. Sowing the seeds of self-development and personal resilience, giving a voice to young women who may find themselves silenced.
Kat tells all, lifting journal entries and recalling trail mantras, an incredible insight into the impact that 8 days of trekking had on 20 young Nepali girls.
Written by Kat Craats
These girls, ages 16-20, are survivors of unimaginable trauma in the darkest corners of Nepal. They are kept safe in a protection shelter just outside of Kathmandu, with 80 other young girls (some as little as 2 years old) and women. Many have never been outside of the city, never laced up hiking boots, and certainly have never seen a snow-covered peak. Raksha Ascent’s annual healing treks are designed to empower these young women through self-development training and adventure.
The Trek
On April 6 we departed Kathmandu, our sights set on Mardi Himal Basecamp, in the Annapurna region of Nepal.
Our daily routine went something like this:
6AM - Rise with the sun
6:30AM - Yoga, body movement. 30 minutes guided meditation led by one of the girls
7:00AM - Breakfast (dal bhat and Himalayan tea)
8:00AM - Begin trekking
11:30AM - Break for lunch (dal bhat)
12:30PM - Resume trekking
3-4PM - Reach camp and settle
4-5PM - Self-development workshop (topics: overcoming fear, building healthy relationships, navigating life challenges, aligning career and education with their vision and purpose)
5PM - Dinner (dal bhat)
6:30-8PM - Teahouse erupts into song and dance
9PM - Rest & repeat
“Motivation check!” one girl would shout as we climbed the steep trail. The whole group would answer with a resounding “YES WE CAN!” - this call-and-response was particularly powerful on steep, gruelling sections of trail.
On the final day of the trek, as the girls danced and sang around me in a tiny teahouse, I wrote in my journal:
“These 8 days have been packed with so many moments of love, deep care & compassion, awe & wonder, laughter & healing."
The peaks we saw trekking to Mardi Himal Basecamp (4500m) were unlike any mountains I’ve ever laid eyes on. The massifs in Nepal are impossibly big – with more ridges, cornices, gulleys, striations and glacial crevasses than your eyes can take in. Reaching Basecamp was surreal – I looked around to see lives changing around me - faces glowing with a sense of accomplishment, pride, strength in a way they never have before.
“Motivation check!” – “YES WE DID!”
Things the girls have taught me:
- Carry weight for others when they need it
- Dance, always
- Laugh loudly and often
- Make your own music
- Don’t shy away from physical touch with trusted others – it can be a great connecter where words cannot
- Dark times serve as motivators for future joy
- Love heals
On these topics, I learned more in 8 days than I’ve learned in a lifetime...
Raksha Ascent
The next Raksha Ascent trek is scheduled for Autumn 2025. Until that time, Raksha Ascent volunteers and girls at the protection shelter work together to raise enough money to support the trek: trekking permits, teahouse bookings, supplies (hiking boots, backpacks), and transportation, as well as a small reserve for any necessary medical coverage. Raksha Ascent is currently pursuing 501 (c)(3) status to expand their reach and impact.
You can contribute to Raksha’s impact by donating money, supplies, or simply words of encouragement for the girls. To learn more, click here.
“To prepare for the mountains (we) develop mind, body, will and spirit as strong as a sword, soft as a pillow and fluid as water.”
