The Pendeba Society’s 2nd council meeting held in Beijing
On April 15, 2011, The Pendeba Society’s 2nd council meeting was successfully held at Future Generations’ Beijing Office. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Lei Guangchun, Vice Board Chairman of The Pendeba Society, and attended by Tsering Norbu, Executive Director of The Pendeba Society, Cili Nongbu, Deputy Director of Future Generations/CHINA, Maggie Fan, Executive Assistant of Future Generations/CHINA, and other concerned people.
Prof. Lei first addressed his welcoming remarks and introduced all the attendees. The meeting welcomed three new council members to The Pendeba Society, who are Ms. Ding Hong Bing, Senior Manager of CCTV Dream Channel, Ms. Fang Fang, Senior Consulting Life Planner of MetLife and Mr. William Wu, Founder of China Best Edulis Co., LID. The meeting then discussed The Pendeba Society’s organizational structure and rights and obligations of council members.
In the meeting, Tsering Norbu introduced The Pendeba Society to the attendees, including the information about the Qomolangma National Nature Reserve, the background, philosophy and mission of The Pendeba Society. Meanwhile, Tsering Norbu also made a presentation showing The Pendeba Society’s recent work and projects since its establishment. In terms of The Pendeba Society’s projects, members of the council have put forward many constructive comments. For example, Ms. Fang Fang suggested that with a new self-orientation, The Pendeba Society should play a leading role in sustainable development. As for the follow-up support to the ecotourism training project, Tsering Norbu envisioned a “Karma Valley Pendeba Ecotourism Collaborative,” where our participants could apply their learned knowledge in reality. Prof. Lei also agreed that in the future, The Pendeba Society could provide local family guesthouses with small loans or grants, helping them improve their facilities to attract more tourists and increase their income.
The end of the meeting was concluded with The Pendeba Society’s future development and outreach strategies. Based on the experiences from similar organizations at international and national levels, council members gave a number of suggestions, which would be of great help for The Pendeba Society’s future work. The meeting also identified the organization’s slogan, which is “May more and more people become pendebas to protect Mt. Everest, a piece of pure land for the whole human being!” We also hope that more and more people will pay attention to the environment and community development in the Mt. Everest region, as well as support The Pendeba Society to help us promote harmonious development in the Qomolangma Preserve.