The Everest Man (Stepup Campaign: Mission To Mount Everest)
Sanjeev Raj Neupane
He is not climbing Mount Everest just to make a new record in the name of “First PLHIV to climb mount Everest”; if you listen to him for two minutes you can feel the passion; zealot ambition and the fire he has for combating the deep rooted stigma; discrimination and attitude our society has towards people living with HIV (PLHIV).
Mr Gopal Shrestha; a national level footballer of his time disclosed his HIV status openly in 2002. Since then he has been fighting from Pokhara for the rights for PLHIV and People who inject drugs (PWID).
In his first expedition through some channel he was able to table the agenda of requesting some support from Government of Nepal in the cabinet meeting. He shares that the responses from cabinet meeting was hilarious. “Sending a PLHIV for climbing Mount Everest is like sending someone on a suicide trip, so the cabinet can’t provide any support for his expedition” this is how the cabinet responded to his request. This shows how ignorant and differential is our cabinet towards the issues of PLHIV. “The cabinet that can give millions support for son of a supremo to climb Everest is not ready to give a single penny for a PLHIV who don’t have any resource but wants to make to the summit” shares Mr Shrestha.
On my question why Mount Everest; Mr Gopal shares “It’s the highest peak on the world and many people still believe that though PLHIV live longer they can’t do hard work and can’t live a normal life; I just want to change this attitude and make whole world believe that PLHIV also can do the things that those not living with HIV can’t do.”
Sanjeev Raj Neupane, Technical Specialist for Global Fund Programs, Save the Children US
If you also want to be a part of step up campaign and support Mr Gopal Shrestha on his expedition to the Mount Everst following are his details;
Email : [email protected] (Gopal Shrestha)
Bank Information of Step up campaign:
Bank Name : Machhapuchre Bank limited
Address : Pokhara, Nepal
SWIFT Code: MBLNNPKA
Account Holder : Gopal , Jamuna & Nanibabu
Account Number: 1122524371759014
Contact Number: 9846563169, 9846420008, 9846034298.Website: http://stepupcampaign.com/
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