Mr. Mingma Dorji Sherpa is a frequent traveler to the major trekking destinations as well as established travel and tour operator of Nepal. His company “Last Frontiers Trekking” is among one of the leading trekking companies of Nepal. Established back in 1984 by Mr. Mingma Dorji Sherpa, one of the leading tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal inherited his trekking and adventure skills from his late father Mr. Pasang Phutter Sherpa who was a close friend of the legendary Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and was with him on the historic 1953 Everest Expedition. Following the grand success of this historic summit his late father received several medals and awards for his hard work.
Being an entrepreneur Mr Mingma Sherpa has been involved in other business ventures as well besides tourism. Mr. Mingma has always been involved in social causes when it comes to helping and touching lives of the poor and the helpless. He has been helping the poor and the orphans by donating cloths, providing proper healthcare medications and foods. It was once his visit to a remote district of Nuwakot in the northern hillside of Nepal that triggered him to do further in the education system primarily focusing on building schools and providing sufficient textbooks and other needed resources for the schools. Ultimately after his return from Nuwakot Mr. Sherpa established an NGO named “Project Nepal” with a vision of providing quality education to the underprivileged children of Nuwakot. Hence “Project Nepal” was born with the support of some of his close trekking clients and well wishers from trekking fraternity and from abroad.
WHY LEKALI
During the implementation and evaluation of "Project Nepal's" activities in Nuwakot, Mr. Sherpa felt the degrading socio economic and environmental conditions of the villages. Besides the mission and the objectives of "Project Nepal" he started on thinking to overcome these problems and help them create a sustainable living for those local underprivileged individuals and communities through the creation of an agricultural atmosphere where small economic activities could be possible.
It was the vision of doing something related with ecology and agriculture. His research for new ideas in agricultural cash crop led him to take an initiate in coffee production. Therefore his visit to Nuwakot district prompt him to pursue with an initiative to focus on coffee followed by other secondary crops, which could be possible in the days to come. Nepal and particularly in the district of Nuwakot with the potentiality to explore the agricultural sector lacks the basic requirement for sustainable farming and resource management. The basic means of farming in Nepal is still traditional where certain level of modification is required in consideration of its root and fundamental base as well as the potentiality to address the need of 21st century. Hence with an aspiration to uplift the livelihood of the poor farmers and communities in Nuwakot Mr. Sherpa got involved in establishing the "Lekali Coffee Estate in October 2007.