Mt everest expedition by Heidi A.Y

MT. EVEREST EXPEDITION YOT GREEN ADVENTURE 2012

a personal reflection

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

contents. THE JOURNEY PLASTIC X CHANGE MT. EVEREST BASE CAMP PUBLICITY/CAMPAIGNS REFLECTION

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

JOURNEY

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

极地之旅

GREEN ADVENTURE 2012

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

JOURNEY Yan Oi Tong (仁爱堂) began the Green Adventure in 2010, selecting 22 HK students each year to be their Green Ambassdor. educating and raising awareness of the pressing environmental issues we face tody. The Green Ambassdors would be sent on an expedition to an 'Extreme Environment', to witness the escalation of Climate Change, conducting an investigatio, to be personally challenged and build individual's esprit de corp. Returning, they had the responsibilty to share and publicize their experience and expedition results - to make a difference and voice out for the environment. Previously the teams have visited the Antartic and Artic circle in 2010 and 2011 respectively, and I had the opportunity to visit Mt. Everest, Tibet on the 2012 Green Ambassador team.

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

28/7

27/3 14/4

LEADERSHIP TRAINING DAY

21/4

TRAINING

TRAINING CAMP

JUNE

17/7 - 18/4

'LEAVE NO TRACE' TRAINING CAMP

-15/4

19/5 INVESTIGATION TOPIC RESEARCH

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012 | JOURNEY

SELECTION

PLASTIC CHANGE : LPC X SAS

JUNE JULY

23/7

HK PLASTIC RECYCLING CENTRE VISIT FITNESS TRAINING INTERVIEW FOR SCMP YOUNG POST

28/7 SET OFF

TRAVELLING FROM HK TO TIBET

TIBET ADJUSTING TO TIBETAN ALTITUDE & CLIMATE

MT. EVEREST MUSEUM TRAVELLING TOWARDS MT. EVEREST

RURAL VILLAGE VISIT EXPEDITION

LEARNING THE LIVELIHOODS OF LOCAL TIBETANS AND THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE & GLOBALISATION

MT. EVEREST - HIKE 1 6 HOUR HIKE TO 5,200 M

SHIGATSE MONASTERY VISIT

TIBET MOUNTAINEERING SCHOOL TEAM REFLECTION

LHASA, TIBET POTALA PALACE VISIT

RETURN -

SHARING

GREEN AMBASSDOR PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO SHOOTING FOR TV KOWLOON TONG PRIMARY SCHOOL

'LOVE FOOD, WASTE NOT' HK ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT CONFERENCE

29/7 30/7 MOUNTAINEERING SCHOOL

3,656 M

1/8

YAMDROK LAKE

4,441 M

3/8

MT. EVEREST BASE CAMP

5/8

MT EVEREST - HIKE 2

MEETING PROFESSIONAL MOUNTAINEERS PRACTICE HIKE & TEAM BUILDING

31/7

TRAVELLING TOWARDS MT. EVEREST

2/8 4/8 6/8

4,900 M

SETTLING INTO TENTS

5,200 M

INVESTIGATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AT THE BASE CAMP

7/8

TASHILUMPO MONASTERY

9/8

LHASA, TIBET

11/8

TIBET MOUNTAINEERING SCHOOL

3,800 M

MONSTERY VISIT

8/8 MONASTERY VISIT

3,656 M

10/8 SHARING ON LEAVE NO TRACE CONCEPTS

12/8 24/8 6/10 2/2/13

20/8

EXPEDITION DEBRIEF

23/9

HK PEARL TV INTERVIEW

OCT

SCHOOL TOUR KOWLOON TONG PRIMARY SCHOOL ST. PAULS COLLEGE

10 MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

PLASTIC X CHANGE

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“...our students realized the need to cherish limited resources and use less plastic in their daily life...” Ms. Ho, teacher from St. Anthony’s School

As part of the selection process to be a Green Ambassador, we had to conduct an 'Plastic Recycling Program. I organised a collaboration between students of Li Po Chun United World School and St. Anthony Primary School to educate and incite the climate generation of today about the global plastic problem through an interactive activity.

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

PLASTIC CHANGE 104 SAS Students, 9 LPC Student Leaders 7 Support Teachers

PLASTIC CHANGE : LPC X SAS program testimony “Plastic Change: LPC X SAS’’ was successfully held with LPC Students whom organized a series of activities to promote environmental-awareness. Through the activities, our students realized the need to cherish limited resources and use less plastic in their

daily life. They even pledged to save the environment by using less plastic, bringing their own water bottles to school, using fewer disposable products, recycling, etc. It was really a great experience to work with LPC students and I hope we could have more collaboration opportunities in the future.

Ms. Ho from St. Anthony's School

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PROGRAM Evaluation

Was the project carried out creatively? Creativity, being a cognitive and aesthetic process, was engrained in the program.From organisation to the program materials and to the way St. Anthony Student (SAS) were taught and encouraged to think about the environment, creativty was core to the pdesign of the program.

How did you spread the message effectively and efficiently? 104 St. Anthonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School students, 9 LPC students and 7 support teachers were involved in this event.

Climate Generation

I chose to engage with primary school students, the who will witness but also have the chance to alter the future of Climate Change.

We engaged the students through a mix of interactive games which aimed to raise awareness of plastic waste issues in context of student's lives so they could relate and see tangible actions they can take. From awareness to realising the significance of the plastic waste problem, students were invited to make a personal pledge on what they could do to protect the environment, in particular on reducing plastic problems. This gave them a direction and something concrete in mind for what they could do to protect the environment.

Was the target audience keen to participate? How interested were they? The core target audience of the event was SASâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s P6 students. This activity was part of SASâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s P.6. Graduation camp, therefore students attended the plastic recycling activty light hearted and willing to participate. Their interest was further enhanced by working in small groups of 10 - 12, with the activities being led by a teen-age foreigner whom they were intrigued by rather than being intimidated by their school teachers, Through this arrangement, SAS Students were less afraid and had the chance to voice out their opinion, actively participating. Nevertheless, there were students who were reluctant to participate. In which case we engaged them individually, to motivate them to take part.

Did the project have continual impact at the school or among your community? How?

Education is a process of awakening ...

and what has been learned cannot be unlearned. Student's increased awareness of plastic waste issues prompts behavourial changes, pledged in the last part of the activity On the other hand, the nature and materials of the activity is reusable and prepared such that anyone in the future could conduct the same activity with the set of materials. Finally, this activity opened up a new collaboration that showed a new way of promoting climate change; sharing from students to students.

Were there any difficulties that you came across in implementing the project? How did you overcome them? The major difficulties were met during the preparation process.

MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

Firstly, designing the suitable activities that would not only meet the aim of the project but also engage the students was a challenge whilst overcoming language barriers of the participants. As such, multiple meetings were held to develop the set activities and materials with SAS teachers Furthermore, the teaching material was bilingual, such that if students did not understand they could refer to the teaching materials.

What is the most important thing that you have learnt from this project? The process of designing the activity, writing proposals, going to meetings, developing learning materials have all helped develop my communication and organizing skills as a leader of the activity. But more importantly, it taught me how to reach out to a significant group of our society: children where the solution of climate change lies. And through the activity, I have developed a set of education materials which could effectively engage this group of students.

16 MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

INVESTIGATIONS

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INVESTIGATION 01

MT. EVEREST BASE CAMP ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

“

RESEARCH TOPIC

极地之旅

GREEN ADVENTURE

2012

AIMS

TO CALCULATE THE AMOUNT OF RUBBISH DEPOSITED AT THE BASE CAMP

TO IDENTIFY THE TYPES OF RUBBISH

TO PROPOSE A METHOD OF PROCESSING THE RUBBISH

04 18

TO PROPOSE A METHOD OF REDUCING RUBBISH DEPOSITED

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METHODOLOGY 1 / Calculate the size of the Base Camp Site 2 / Random Sampling of rubbish across the site using a 1 X 1m grid. 3 / Calculate average amount of rubbish produced

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INVESTIGATION 01 |

MT. EVEREST BASE CAMP

RESULTS

01 AMOUNT OF RUBBISH ON SITE SITE AREA WIDTH OF TEAM MULTIPLES ACROSS SITE WIDTH OF SITE TEAM MEMBER NUMBER OF STEPS STEP DISTANCE (STEPS/M) LENGTH OF SITE AVERAGE DISTANCE LENGTH OF SITE

28.369m 12 404.428m A 622 2 311

B 700 2 350

C 800 2.5 320

327m

SITE AREA = SITE WIDTH X SITE LENGTH = 404.428m X 327m = 125804.304m2 SAMPLED RUBBISH RUBBISH TOTAL AMOUNT OF RUBBISH COLLECTED INVESTIGATED AREA Average Amount of Rubbish

2.505 kg 37m2 0.0677 kg/m2

CALCULATION OF AMOUNT OF RUBBISH ON SITE

RUBBISH ON SITE = AVERGE AMOUNT OF RUBBISH X SITE AREA = 0.0677 kg/m2 X 126000m2 = 8530kg

02 TYPOLOGY OF RUBBISH

2% 7% 10% e d

54%

27%

b a

amount

HIKING EQUIPMENT

54% 20

METAL

27%

OTHERS

PAPER

PLASTIC

10%

MINIMISING AMOUNT OF RUBBISH ON SITE BY TRAINING HIKERS THROUGH 'LEAVE NO TRACE' METHODS WITH THE GUIDANCE AND MONITORING BY MOUNTAINEER GUIDES

From the training and investigation, a proposal is made to alleviate the rubbish concern from both the source and output - minimising the amount of rubbish deposited and suggesting better treatment of rubbish.

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PROPOSAL

input output IMPROVING THE TREATMENT OF RUBBISH BY REQUIRING HIKERS TO TAKE AWAY THE RUBBISH, PROVIDING PROPER COVERED COLLECTION POINTS WITH RECYCLING.

22 MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

CAMPAIGN

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AWARENESS RAISING

23/7

HK SCMP YOUNG POST INTERVIEWED BY SCMP YOUNG POST TO SHARE ON OUR EXPECTATIONS OF THE TRIP

30/7

THE SUN NEWSPAPER

23/8 08/8 30/7 24

ORIENTAL DAILY

SCMP YOUNG POST BLOG MY BLOG ENTRY DURING THE EXPEDITION, PUBLISHED ON SCMP ONLINE

PRESS CONFERENCE

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24/8

7/10 SING TAO DAILY

ORIENTAL DAILY

24/8

THE STANDARD

5/9 ORIENTAL DAILY SINGTAO DAILY

5/9 ORIENTAL DAILY FEATURING MY GROUP'S INVESTIGATION ON ELIMINATING WASTE ON THE BASE CAMP, & LEAVE NO TRACE CONCEPT.

27/8

COMMERCE DAILY

29/8 TA KUNG BAO 25

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AWARENESS RAISING

6/10

SCHOOL CONFERENCE WE PRESENTED OUR INVESTIGATION REPORTS TO SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES ACROSS HONG KONG

25/10

EDUCATIONAL TV PROGRAM INTERVIEW WE WERE INVITED TO SHARE OUR EXPERIENCE ON A LOCAL HK EDUCATIONAL TV PROGRAM

OCT

SCHOOL TOUR PRESENTIING AT ST. PAULS COLLEGE

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28 MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

JOURNEY

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30 MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012

GREEN ADVENTURE

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“

极地之旅

2012 Two things made the trip the leson and experience it was: the people and the place. The People If it hadn't been for the Tibetan Mountaineering Guides, we would not have completed our expedition. It was also with them tht I shared one of the most memorable conversations of the trip. One evening, I questioned "Mountaineering is such a physically and mentaly challenging job, risking your life everytime, is it really worth it?" Without a second thought, they replied a confident, "Yes." He explained, "As the entire Tibet urbanizes, everyone is becoming materialized, only pursuing what money can get them. Being a mountaineering guide is indefinitely tough and we may die any moment on an expedition, but we gain a greater meaning to life. What we purse, is more than money, but a dream - that's what keeps us going." One added, "My fear is not for my own life, but for the lives of our team members - my life doesn't matter." The mountaineering guides didn't just keep us safe and led us up the trek, but they taught me a selfless attitude. The Place As I walked at the foot of Everest, I was a minute figure exposed to the power of nature - with one blow of wind and I could disappear from humanity. Yet in its magnificence, it has been stained by it's past visitors. Everest wasn't the pristine environment we had expected it to be, instead, we were welcomed by empty coke cans, odd pieces of clothing, abandoned hiking gear along the journey. During the expedition we were aslo faced with rivers formed by melted glaciers due to escalated climate change in recent years. Not only was it the beginning of nature disappearing, it was also a glimpse of the power of nature to disrupt and potentially kill us. The expedition has shown human's destruction of the natural environment, and is a call for us to face the reality and urgency of needing to halt Climate Change.

- Heidi Au Yeung, Green Ambassador 2012

32 MT EVEREST EXPEDITION 2012