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DAILY DIM SUM &SUSHI

DAILY DIM SUM

16 March 19 • 2015

JN

Suzi Colman, right,

gives one of the

donated iPads to a

school in Nepal.

..yes On Everest

Local woman makes an impact on
poverty-stricken Sherpas.

Zack Colman
Special to the Jewish News

B

ecause it's there:'
Those are the famous words
spoken by George Mallory when
asked why he wanted to climb Mount
Everest. No one knows if he reached the
summit because he never made it back
to tell the story, but one person who did
reach her goal in the Everest region has
returned to tell the tale.
World-traveler Suzi Colman, 66, of
Commerce Township is improving the
lives of the Sherpa people and other
Nepalese in need. She first met them in
2013.
The Sherpa people are renowned
worldwide for their ability to guide expe-
ditions to Everest, but they lack access to
many things we often take for granted.
When Colman learned that access to eye
care required more than a week's journey
to the nearest road, followed by a 10-hour
bus ride to Kathmandu, she decided to do
something about it.
Last November, Colman joined
forces with the Nepal Association of
Optometrists (NAO) and Volunteer
Optometric Services to Humanity
Southeast to raise money and bring
American optometrists directly to the
Sherpas. She also worked closely with
Dawa Thundu Sherpa, a local who helped
ensure everything went smoothly.
Nearly 2,000 patients were seen —
many are porters who never would have
had the opportunity otherwise.
Colman is now expanding on this work
by founding Eyes on Everest, a nonprofit
aimed at helping the Sherpas and other
Nepalese escape extreme poverty. The
overall goal of the organization is to create
a path to a brighter future for the children
of Nepal.
The organization now is tackling this
by bringing children from the slums into
boarding schools and is planning to con-
nect with the Himalayan Trust (founded
by Sir Edmund Hillary) to provide com-
puters and tablets to the schools.

During the eye clinic, Colman brought
some iPads and, with the help of Hillel
Day School in Farmington Hills, they
were pre-loaded with educational apps.
One of the Nepalese schools is building a
separate room just for IT classes, thanks
to donations like these.
Already, Colman has been able to see
how Eyes on Everest is helping. Sisters
Pasang Yangji, 3, and Dawa Lahmu
Tamang, 5, were essentially abandoned
by their parents, and their condition was
deplorabale.
"Dawa has never been bathed:' Colman
said. "Pasang had no shoes or socks. Their
mother has never paid any attention to
the kids:'
They also have a 12-year-old sister who
was put to work, but is now in the process
of joining school at a third-grade level,
thanks to Colman. Eyes on Everest is pay-
ing about $700 per year for each for room,
board, tuition, books and uniforms.
She says in Nepal, a small donation can
go a long way.
Colman, a mother of four and grand-
mother of two, is supported in her work
by her husband, Jon.
Since 1953, when Hillary and his
Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay reached
Everest's summit, more than 4,000 people
have also reached the top. Yet every year
the extreme poverty of the people of
Nepal is overlooked by so many of those
adventurers, Colman says.
Through Eyes on Everest, she is trying
to change that pattern.
Why? Because they are there.

❑

To learn more or contribute to
Eyes on Everest with a cash
donation or slightly used iPads
or iPhones, come to a fund-
raising event from 5:30-7:30
p.m. Wednesday, March 25, at
Moosejaw in Birmingham. Fifteen
percent discounts will be given.
Annabel Cohen will donate
refreshments. For more informa-
tion, contact Suzi Colman at suzi@
eyesoneverest.org .

