Klimb 4 Kashmir is a trip designed to generate awareness and raise funding to expand education, business, and vocational training to girls and young women throughout Kashmir, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Our goal is to gather a team of dynamic individuals interested in socially conscious activities and the outdoors. The trip will take place May 1st, 2013. Our goal is to have each trekker commit to raising $2,500 in sponsorships that will help educate over 1,000 women in these war weary countries. The proceeds raised are tax deductible. Please understand that $2,500 per trekker is a goal and not an absolute requirement to join the trek. The individual trip cost per person is dependent on the number of trekkers participating (the more participants, the lesser the cost). The range will be within $2,200-$3,000 and does not include airfare. We are also offering a 3 day option to join Marshall Direct Fund in Pakistan before the Nepal trek May 1-4th, otherwise you can just join us in Nepal starting May 4th. Please visit our itinerary page for more details on cost and day-by-day itinerary.
Funds raised for this expedition will support the important work that non-profit, Marshall Direct Fund, is doing to improve relations between the West and Muslim world by working together to alleviate poverty and illiteracy via sustainable educational and economic development in Southwest Asia. When asked how they differ from other organizations that do similar work, they shared that they invest not in building and bricks and mortar, but human capital – training teachers, working regularly with school staff, nutritious lunches, and implementing a curriculum that is focused on multiple subjects and critical thinking.
Please visit the website, www.marshalldirectfund.org to learn more about Marshall Direct Fund activities. Please also visit our recommended reading section. To view pictures of the regions that will be visited please visit MDF on pinterest.
In peace and prosperity,
Marshall Direct Fund and Klimb 4 Kashmir coordinators
Important Statistics:
- Studies show that investment in education has one of the highest payoffs to society of all possible expenditures. Did you know that for every 1% increase in education there is a .3% increase in economic growth? And for every increase of one year in the average schooling of a population, the risk of civil conflict is reduced by 3.6 percentage points?
- An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20%. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25%.
- When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40% for a man.
- Educating a girl reduces the infant mortality rate and ensures better healthcare for each child a girl has in her future.
- Can you think of a better asset to invest in than a girl in the developing world when considering this immense returns to society?…Especially a girl in a country facing conflict as these children have the least amount of access to international economic support.

