Mission Statement
The elation, the sense of achievement one feels while standing on the highest point on earth is always underscored by a sobering fact. No matter if one has reached the summit of Mt. Everest for the first time, the second time, or the hundredth time - the next step is always descending to ground reality. And for Dawa Steven Sherpa, Chief Coordinator iDEAS, Ground Reality is global warming, causing threats to the very livelihood of the mountain communities posed by climate change, and the need to assist the people of these communities, especially the young men and women, to better understand the risks, and to support their initiatives to lessen the these risks and adopt measures to save lives as well as look after and protect their most valuable inheritance: the environment. Dawa Steven decided to make this his personal “Everest” and take steps to turn his vision into reality. Eco Everest opened up new dimensions for him - he wanted to use at the community level his lessons-learned on Everest. There were a number of special projects Dawa Steven wanted to initiate - but in an institutional manner. It was an idea he wanted to turn into reality. The environment needs to be protected, culture and tradition need to be preserved, a family needs to be fed, children need to be educated - and all this is based on the ability and the opportunity to earn a decent living.
And so, Dawa Steven's personal "Everest" has begun : as Founder and Chief Coordinator of iDEAS ....