Maurice Machoud is doing good work, really good work. He’s a retired Swiss chemist and has had a 15 year dream to convert a luxury barge in Myanmar, into a floating hospital. And it’s happening! Marurice was a recent client of ours on Lake Wanaka Yacht Charters, where we went out for an afternoon sail. Learn more about his dream and his project below. (Image of the Floating Hospital to be added soon.)
The North Face makes good
Cedar Wright on Turning his Passion into Purpose and an upcoming Expedition to Summit for Someone
By Cedar Wright, The North Face
This year I had the privilege and pleasure of attending several Outdoor Nation events to represent the North Face as a proud advocate of the movement to get more youth outside. I told my story of finding passion and direction through climbing in Yosemite, to hundreds of young people who are committed to turning the tide on the sad reality that at no time in human history have kids spent less time outdoors.
I spoke alongside Juan Martinez who is an Outdoor Participation ambassador for The North Face’s initiative to inspire more people everywhere to explore and push their personal limits in the outdoors. His story of growing up surrounded by the negativity, gangs, and crime in South Central LA and then having his life changed by getting the opportunity to camp out and see stars for the first time was truly inspirational. Juan’s journey reinforced what I have always believed; that these programs are invaluable for creating a bridge from the hustle and bustle of urban life to the quiet magic of Mother Nature. read the rest of this story..
Ed note: I take back everything I ever said about The North Face. Well, we still need to curb consumerism for consumerism’s sake, old stuff will do, and when that’s trashed, but durable goods. But I do commend the company for their initiatives in funding worthwhile orgs and projects under their grant program called the Explore Fund.
Teddy Roosevelt on "Staying in the Arena"
What does it mean to be a good citizen these days?
Teddy Roosevelt had some definite ideas on the subject. Below is an excerpt from his speech Citizenship in a Republic.
And from where does the term Tenacity of Pursuit come?
Kurt Hahn, the founder of Outward Bound considered “the tenacity of pursuit” to be one of his key outcomes of a good education.
Kurt Hahn
Says Hahn, “I regard it as the foremost task of education to insure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self denial, and above all, compassion.”
TR’s life shows us that hard work, tenacity, and a desire to do the right thing can get you far in life. In the most memorable section of his “Citizenship in a Republic” speech, Roosevelt captured his life philosophy in just a few sentences. “The Man in the Arena” tells us that the man we should praise is the man who’s out there fighting the big battles, even if those battles end in defeat. In our day, when cynicism and aloof detachment are considered hip and cool, TR reminds us that glory and honor come to those “who spend themselves in a worthy cause.”
The Man in the Arena
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Ragged Mountain Equipment Leads the Way in Giving for the Environment
Donating for the Environment
Ragged Mountain Equipment in Intervale, NH is doing good work. When I was climbing in the North Conway area, Rob Nadler and Cort Hansen were just starting the store in a small space behind the Intervale post office. They made their own chalk bags, ice axe leashes and a few polypro pullovers. Since then, they’ve grown the business to one of the best outdoor and retail outlets in the nation. They might not be the biggest, but in my opinion, one of the best. There’s always a good feeling when you go into their store.
In line with their values, there now contributing .50 cents from every sale of a Ragged Mountain made product over $25.00 retail cost to the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust (USVLT).
USVLT’s mission is to protect the cultural and scenic values of the Upper Saco River Valley by preserving land for farming, forestry, recreation and education. Founded in 2000, USVLT has helped preserve nearly 4,000 acres of open space here in the area. The same program is being used by some of the restaurants and B&B’s in the valley.
Says Cort, “I think we are the only retail/manufacturer doing this at this time. I think it is a great program to raise the awareness of local land conservation issues. ” He adds, “The customer has the choice at the register to opt out and save $.50. Very few have done so.”
Every garment has a hang tag explaining their mission. Says Cort, “We are in the process of expanding hang tags to all our existing inventory which is a major task I can inform you. New styles come through with the tags already on them.”
They’re up to more good. Adds Cort, “We also enrolled the Mount Washington Valley Ski Touring Foundation in the program as well. All ski trail passes sold here at the Touring Center include a $.50 contribution the USVLT. We are the only XC ski touring center participating in this program currently. I think this is vital to making all nordic skiers aware that almost 100% of the valley XC trails use private land which is not protected from development or alternative uses.”
Climber Henry Barber approached Ragged Mountain late last fall about their participating in this this program.
If you’d like to donate and help owners Rob and Cort with this worthwhile project, contact Cort at cort(at)raggedmountain.com
By D.R.Richards
Coloring for the first time, Amantani Island, Peru
The simple act of giving a child a coloring book on the high mountain island of Amantani on Lake Titicaca, where we have been taking small groups for years, bridges our cultures. It also helps reach out by giving a little something back. By no means is it as big as building a school, or other major project that other more established organisations are doing in Peru. As mother Teresa said, “Peace begins with a smile,” and in this case a coloring book, then a smile.
We at Mountain Spirit Institute believe that to truly connect with others in our world, when we travel its good to reach out in anyway you can. Reaching out might be that smile, the coloring book, or listening well to the people you’re visiting rather than building them what you think they need, a good lesson from Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea. Of course listening well implies you need a good interpreter or hopefully have studies the local lanquage, and I don’t mean Spanish. Next time you travel, load up on some coloring books and colored pencils. Leave the chocolates at the city, and take some paper and pencils instead. The local kids will love it, and you’ll smile too.
MSI and Family Cari
A Son Helps Build a Family Lodge on a Remote Island
There are times in my life when I’ve returned to a wonderful place in the world that I’m still getting to know, and by chance, I’ve end up camping in the same field or returning to the same hostel. Only when I walked into the place, do I remember having stayed there before.
Richard Cari with a Kantuta, National Flower of Peru
Richard Cari’s home and the Kantuta Lodge is one of those places. Since I’m on the subject of “chance travel”, the reader might be interested my entry on a similar instance where I was hitch hiking across France and ended up sleeping in the same field I had slept in 15 years prior. But for now, more on Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca.
I’d come to Amantani Island a few times during my travels in Peru. The place and people drew me in. No cars, electricity only a few hours a day, not even cats or dogs, which made the place seem peaceful. There is hardship on Amantani. The small population living on the 3 mile by 1.5 mile island on Lake Titicaca live at 13000 feet in stunning but somewhat harsh environment. There sustainable crops of Quinoa, potatoes and herbs are rain dependent. There is no irrigation of the crops. People do go hungry, despite the tourism dollars that trickle in from visitors taking boats from the nearby (4 hours!) harbor or Puno, Peru. Most visitors stay at family homes on the island’s west side, who have formed a cooperative rotating schedule that spreads the wealth and visitor’s dollars so no one family is reaping the homestays.
At Outward Bound we learned as instructors the metaphors of community, and here on Amantani, the population, because of its environment is a clear example of community. The island people work together with the resources they have to create the best possible outcome for all.
Segundino & Marcelina Cari of Amantani Island
Segundino, the island’s vice-Shaman, if you will, and his wife Marcelina have what was once a small home like the other villagers near the boat docks. But their son Richard went to University in Puno and majored in Tourism. He has come back with a plethora of “tools” and ideas he learned at school, that have transformed their home into the Kantuta Lodge, complete a separate building dining room, with longer beds for Gringos and Gringas and the only hot shower on the island.
Amantani Island, Lake Titicaca
Richard has done a spectacular job with his new skills making a better life for his family. He is creating a market. I told him I would submit the family lodge Lonely Planet, and even though I’ve not followed through I suspect the word has already gotten out about his good work.
The last time I visited Family Cari, I enjoyed the stay thoroughly. I got to help Richard’s sister Wilma do some cooking and plant potatoes by digging trenches in the garden below the house. I didn’t do very well by the way. Wilma, showing me the digging technique with a short handled hoe, giggled as I’d dig for a few feet before feeling breathless from the altitude. Her mother and father looked on from the house with a wry smile. (more…)
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