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About Mustang


Mustang is a remote district in western Nepal and is one of the few districts in Nepal that development has yet to reach.

A good weeks trek is required to reach this outlying area. Alternatively, one may want to board a small airplane or rely on horses and mules.

A group of people called Thakalis live in Mustang, and surprisingly, their living style and culture is similar to that of Tibetans.

The main occupation of Thakalis is business. Prestige among the Thankalis is is often rooted in the success of their businesses. They started with barter trade with Tibet and now many have big businesses in the main cities of Nepal. Other Mustangis depend on seasonal farming 5 out of the 12 months for their livelihood. However, the barren land often makes farming a fruitless endeavor.

This area has been on the trekking route; a few thousand westerners trek this area every year, and villages on the trekking route have been able to establish some necessary infrastructure. Those outside of the main trekking route, however, lack any infrastructure and seem to be trapped in the stone age.

NCEF has ventured to help the children of this particular area of Nepal, where the literacy rate has remained under 10 percent. Our operation will be in villages off the trekking route where people are afflicted by extreme poverty. Some representative villages include Chimang, Thini and Syang.

NCEF relies heavily on local volunteers. As such the fact that most literate individuals of Mustang go to the cities for better opportunities poses as a huge problem for the organization. Volunteers are exceedingly difficult to find and administration is very difficult. However we have ventured this area with full enthusiasm and, with the cooperation of all concerned, we are bound to succeed.



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