Tom and Katherine at a planning meeting in Southampton earlier this year.
We've just got off the phone to Tom Webber and Katherine Reid from University of Southampton who are in the departure hall at Heathrow airport. They are flying via Oman to Kathmandu tonight to meet up up with our Nepal Co-Director Richard Allen tomorrow.
Saraswoti and Amrit in Kavre during a pre-planning visit in March.
Katherine and Tom will be in Nepal for a month as part of our Higher Education programme to do their MSc dissertation research. They'll be joined by Saraswoti Byanjankar and Amrit Maharjan from Tribhuvan University who will accompany them to the district of Kavre, around fifty miles east of Kathmandu.
Saraswoti and Amrit are also students and will be acting as translators for Tom and Kat in Kavre while also doing valuable research of their own. Our Nepali NGO partners, EcoHimal will be coordinating the trip, they have a wealth of experience and contacts in Kavre and have had staff working closely with the community for several years.
Kavre has suffered greatly in the aftermath of the earthquakes that hit Nepal in 2015, the students will be looking at how they have been recovering and how these efforts are dovetailing with the ongoing struggle to adapt to the impacts of Climate Change.
We blogged previously about the trip and hope to bring you lots of photos and stories from all four students over the next four weeks. Please keep an eye on our social media feeds and website!