COVER STORY
17,000 ft. Foundation owes its name to the towering pass that Gurgaon-based founder Sujata Sahu, her husband and a friend had crossed on foot to reach Lingshed, Ladakh. The organisation owes its success to its unstinting efforts within existing ecosystems to improve and transform lives in the remote Himalayan villages. Their programs work to improve schools and education, while also providing income opportunities for the locals and involving the youth and communities to contribute to their villages in turn. The foundation has successfully geo-mapped 1000 remote village schools of Ladakh, via a technology program called MapMySchool, which connects them to the outside world, facilitating trekkers and travellers to get involved. The Yountan Project works at improving education in schools, sets up libraries, conducts periodic reading programs, improves infrastructure by setting up playgrounds, providing furniture, and also trains hundreds of teachers annually. Volutourist@17000ft enables outsiders to contribute to a remote school while on vacation.
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June 2017