Nepal trek with RFN Director Lou Nulley

Lou Nulley is co-founder and Director of the REACH for Nepal Foundation, a not for profit organisation established to assist the rebuild of Nepal following the devastating earthquakes of 2015. ‘REACH’ is an acronym for Rebuild, Educate, Assist, Children/Communities (giving) Hope for Nepal, and the acronym defines the objectives of the foundation.

​ One very effective way to achieve these objectives is through volunteers in Australia (and other countries) to provide direct support to the people in Nepal by participating in an annual trip to a school/village impacted by the earthquakes or who are in need of assistance. Each year (typically in October), Lou organizes a group of up to 12 people to offer practical support in remote parts of Nepal. This includes the rebuild of local infrastructure (i.e. school class rooms, water tanks, libraries etc) as part of a 15 day trip to a country which is slowly recovering from the disaster that killed over 8,000 people in 2015.

The trip includes trekking the mountain ridges of the Annapurna Panorama trek on the outskirts of Pokhara with spectacular views of the Himalayas. The pace is relaxed to ensure the trek is comfortably attainable by trekkers of average fitness, walking less than 5 hours per day. Typically, the group walks for 5 days to the location where the community/school project is undertaken.

​ A yoga session is available whenever practical, and no previous yoga experience is required to participate in yoga on the trip.

Generally, these trips are fully booked as participants enjoy the blend of trekking the Himalayas at a relaxed pace, making a real difference to the lives of many people through the community project, and maintaining a sense of equanimity throughout the whole experience.

​Feedback from participants completing the annual trip is always overwhelmingly positive, with some people commenting on the experience as the most satisfying in their lives. One participant recently commented a view that was shared by many, ‘we have given so little, and the Nepalese people have given us so much’.

The cost of the 15 day trek/rebuild trip is $4100 and this covers international flights, all accommodation and transport and about 80% of the meals.