The American Himalayan Foundation

The American Himalayan Foundation (AHF) was founded in 1979. AHF's goal is to significantly improve the lives of people in the Himalaya region while enabling them to maintain their traditional ways and cultures. AHF also helps Tibetan refugees with their difficult struggle to survive and maintain their culture. AHF has a close partnership with the Himalayan Trust - a non-profit organization established by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1960.

AHF's projects include: scholarships and support to numerous schools; healthcare and healthcare training; care to children in need (orphaned and/or abandoned); care for the elderly (spiritual as well as material); cultural preservation (support the continuation of Bhuddist traditions and cultures); and environmental conservation (reforestation, clean water, and irrigation projects, sustainable agriculture training)

To learn more about AHF, please go to The American Himalayan Foundation.

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The dZi Foundation

The dZi Foundation was founded in 1997 by Kim Reynolds and Jim Nowak. The two had enjoyed numerous trekking and climbing trips to Nepal, and the foundation was established as a way of giving back to the people of Nepal who had so openly accepted them into their culture on their travels. Their first project was the creation of a small Kathmandu Safe House for girls at risk called The Friendship House. Later followed aid to restoration of Taksindu Monastery, a remodeling of a primary school, building a 700-square-foot Teachers House, and scholarship programs.

The dZi's latest involvement is in a nutrition and health program in Kathmandu. Here the locals from the villages learn how to best feed and cook for their children to give them a healthy start on life. The program is closely connected to a hospital in Kathmandu, where parents or relatives of malnourished children are offered free participation in the program. Follow-up visits are made to the villages to see how the children are doing once "released" from the program, and it's the hope that the parents who have gone through training will spread their knowledge to other families in the village.

To learn more about the dZi, please go to The dZi Foundation

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The Fund for the Tiger

In August 1995 veteran MTS trip leader Brian Weirum established The Fund for the Tiger - a non-profit public organization dedicated to protecting tigers and their habitat in the forests of India and Nepal. There are many problems threatening the beautiful Bengal tiger with extinction, but the most immediate threat facing the tiger is poaching for bones and other body parts to satisfy the market for traditional Chinese medicinal products.

In partnership with Brian Weirum, we have for the past several years operated our Save the Tiger! trip, an educational adventure that takes you into the heart of tiger habitat and gives you a chance to see this beautiful animal in its natural setting. All the profits from this trip are donated to The Fund for the Tiger, and this trip won an Honorable Mention Award in the Conde Nast Traveler magazine Eco-Tourism Awards in 2000.

To learn more, please go to:

Bengal Tiger – Slideshow
The Fund for the Tiger
Save the Tiger Fundraising Adventure


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