BACKGROUND

During the winter of 1992, when Marie-Claire Gentric visited Dolpo, she was struck by the extreme poverty of the villagers. Back in France, she founded Action Dolpo, a French organization supported by volunteers, sponsors and the French Alpine Club. In 1994, Action Dolpo opened Crystal Mountain School in collaboration with His Majesty's Government of Nepal, to fulfil the educational needs of the children of Dho-Tarap valley. Kedar Binod Pandey joined the programme, first as a teacher, then as principal and now as the director of the whole project in Nepal.
By the year 2001, the school had a complete primary programme and its pupils ranked first in the district examination among 107 primary schools in Dolpo.