Emma Scott's gap year in the mountains

My gap year was composed of two stints in Nepal, from November until March, followed by some work, eventing competitions and mountaineering expeditions in the second half. 

In November I was based in Pokhara in Nepal, a super fun city at the foothills of the Annapurna range of the Himalayas. There were lots of nearby accessible treks, and I also unwittingly and unknowingly played pool with Robert Plant! I just thought he was an old trekker. 

I worked alongside the SASANE foundation to provide teenage girls and young women who had been human trafficked and returned to Nepal, with English language and numeracy skills to provide them with the ability to earn a living. Pokhara is a trekking hub in Nepal and filled with a continuous flow of English-speaking tourists, so these skills were vital for them to have the opportunity to independently run businesses. I lived with a host family in the centre of the town.

Helping women with basic numeracy and literacy skills so that they can run small businesses tailored for tourists in the trekking hotspot of Pokhara

After Christmas I went to the Everest region of Nepal, supporting an organisation called Stay at School in their endeavour to keep children in the Everest region in education. I worked in a very remote village called Salleri, which was a 15-hour journey from Kathmandu. There were 15 people plus a tiny baby squished into the jeep (the baby’s mother had died that week and the father and uncle were taking the child to live with her grandparents.) There were no other non-Nepalese in this area.  There was no running water - I was given one small bucket of hot water to wash with once a week, and no heating - I was there in the middle of a Himalayan winter, so this was extremely cold!  

Two young boys playing in the street in Salleri

My work in Salleri tested many different aspects of my skill set - I mainly spent my time working on a project that essentially creating a sixth form centre for students. Students who continue their education to the A-Level equivalent must leave their local villages to come to Salleri, where they live isolated lives far away from their families, with some only returning once or twice a year. The purpose of the project was to provide students with a safe, communal place, with meals cooked for them, a chance for more interaction and extra educational tutorage.  

Additionally, I visited the boarding houses which Stay at School built to lodge students closer to their education (as some students walk over four hours just to get to school). I encountered many challenges and situations which I had not expected to find myself in before. As part of my work, I completed an audit of a boarding house and during my visit I found a young girl locked in a small, unfurnished room. She was deaf, unable to speak and incontinent. It was a distressing scene that after further investigation truly highlighted the very present issues in a mountainous poverty-stricken area. Fortunately, I was able to report my findings to the Stay at School team in the UK who have provided some life-changing support for this girl.   

Living in the rural mountain was full of adventure. No-one spoke any English, apart from the Stay at School employee who was responsible for me. Transport included taking tuk-tuks along mountain roads as well as two five-hour journeys on the back of a motorbike across the Lamjura Pass in a snowstorm. It was a privilege to have such access to village life in Nepal, and to have been so warmly received and looked after by the family who ran the teahouse I was staying in, despite the language barrier. 

At the end of my stint working for Stay at School, I trekked from Salleri to Everest Base Camp, where I climbed a 5600m mountain to watch the sunrise over Everest. It may have been colder than -30°C (I did go in the middle of winter!) but the scenery was breathtaking.  

Kala Patthar 5,545m in -30°C watching the sunrise over Everest.                                           On the Hillary Suspension bridge on the way up to Namche Bazaar

Fuelled and inspired by the Himalayan mountaineers (including the incredible Sherpa, Ngawang, who was my guide on the trek, and his father Phurba, who has successfully submitted Everest 18 times), I climbed Mont Blanc in the summer and I have continued this winter to further my ice-climbing mountaineering skills in Chamonix,  in the hope to return to Nepal to climb some 6000m peaks.  

I also worked for a family in crisis, who had every horror in the world thrown at them. I had to organise funerals, look after their horses, dogs and puppies, drive children to school etc alongside eventing my horse at international level.    

In terms of other useful qualifications, I secured my Class 1 C&E HGV driving license which means I can drive 44T arctic lorries (the biggest on UK & European roads), twinned with my horse qualifications, I can earn good money driving horse boxes or other lorries as holiday work. Now at University, I continue to work with my UK based colleagues at Stay At School as a speaker at fund raising events. 

It was a great privilege to live with the Nepalese and Sherpa communities in villages across the Himalayas. They welcomed me into their homes, shared so much with me and cared for me with great kindness.