Matt Moniz is a junior at Boulder High School but already has taken enough courses at the University of Colorado to be a sophomore there. Now he’s getting quite an education in Nepal.
After surviving the earthquake at Everest base camp, Moniz traveled with climbing guides Willie and Damian Benegas to Switzerland to solicit funds for aid relief. Moniz returned to Nepal, and last week they delivered 22,000 pounds of supplies to the village of Laprak.
“Our first plan was to hire a helicopter to drop off supplies,” Moniz said. “But we were talking to a few Sherpas and came up with the idea of ‘Why waste all this money on jet fuel and helicopter companies when we can put the money right back in the economy by hiring porters to move all the supplies?’ “
Sherpas are admired in the climbing community for happiness despite material poverty. The earthquakes haven’t changed that.
“All the people here are super happy still,” Moniz said. “They’re not sitting around and waiting. A lot of them are starting to try to rebuild their houses. They’re all smiling. It was a great sight to see, really heartwarming.”
Moniz, 17, might return to Colorado this week.
