Foundation set up by Romanian climber covers the salaries of three teachers in Pakistan's Askole

Alex Gavan Foundation, set up by Romanian high-altitude climber Alex Gavan, covered the salaries of three teachers in the village of Askole, in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan.

The salaries were covered for the 12 months of the incoming new school year. The three teachers, usually paid from funds gathered from parents, could not receive their salaries as the community was unable to fund them.

"Because of the virus, no expeditions were organized in 2020; those three teachers were left without payment because the parents could not earn money. Being locals, the three volunteered," Gavan explained in a press release.

A total of 312 pupils learn in Askole, coming from the small town and four other villages. The school has nine teachers: four are paid by the Government, one by a community welfare fund, one by an NGO, and three of them from the parents' contribution.

It was back in 2007 when I first arrived into the village of Askole, in the Baltistan region of Northern Pakistan. One... Posted by Alex Gavan on Monday, January 25, 2021

Gavan first arrived in Askole in 2007. He describes it as "one of the most remote inhabited places I know, deep into the mountains at 3040m altitude, Askole is a tiny oasis of green surrounded by sharp peaks of rock and ice. The expeditions use this place as a gateway to their base camps, by trekking along the Baltoro, the third-longest glacier outside the polar regions."

He reached Askole again last year as he attempted a winter climb of K2.

So far, Gavan climbed seven of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 meters without using additional oxygen or Sherpas. He conquered his first peak of over 8,000 meters – Cho Oyu (8,201 m) in 2006. Gasherbrum I (8,080 m) followed in 2007, Makalu (8,485 m) in 2008, Manaslu (8,156 m) in 2011, Sishapangma Main (8,027 m) in 2013, Broad Peak (8,047 m) in 2014, and Gasherbrum II (8,035 m) in 2019.

The Romanian climber also supports various environmental causes, standing against illegal logging, advocating for protecting and conserving Romania's virgin forests, creating the Bucharest Green Belt, or saving the asprete, the rare "living fossil" fish.

(Photo by Dan Stesland, courtesy of Alex Gavan)