Seven Summits Women Team

Seven Summits Women Team are the world’s first female group to climb the highest peak in each continent. They are now on a mission to empower young female survivors of sex trafficking by helping them become trained and licensed trekking guides in Nepal.  
 
The training program, based in Kathmandu, is led by Everest climbers Maya Gurung and Shailee Basnet. When Maya and Shailee met the young survivor sisters, all of their lives were about to change. The sisters found a platform, Maya and Shailee found a purpose.  
 
The survivor sisters were tricked into trafficking during their early teens under the pretence of education or jobs in India. One of them was only 12.  They fought everything from forced sex work, malnutrition, torture to even prison time. Yet at such tender ages they found courage to escape, risking their lives.  
 
Once back in Nepal, an NGO fighting against trafficking called ‘Shakti Samuha’ provided the girls protection, shelter and rehabilitation. But due to their lack of education and work skills, the survivors could only find menial jobs without prospects for development and growth. Moreover, the societal stigma against them was strong, another hurdle to fight. 
 
Starting in 2014, Seven Summits Women Team began providing the sisters with holistic training that helped them heal, empower and find a career in the trekking industry. Three survivors have now earned their trekking guide license, with a goal of twenty survivors fully trained in the next two years. 

Driftwood donations directly contribute to the training program activities. As licenced guides, the girls will secure good jobs and a livelihood that will enable them to support their families and communities into the years ahead.