Well, here it is – the long-awaited MEGA-SUPER-COLLOSO UPDATE, with all that’s been going on since the climb back in September in last year. (Was that really ten months ago? Good grief!)

Firstly, part of the news is that we’ve made a mini-documentary-type thing about the conception of Arohon, and the story of the climb – including our shenanigans on the mountain (by shenanigans, I largely mean OMG-GRUELLING-CLIMB). It weighs in at just under 20 minutes long, so please do watch if you’re so inclined. (Get it? Incline? Sigh…) Also: do excuse the cheesy-ish/awesome/bizarre soundtrack – it is made up entirely of some of the songs that we put on our playlists on the mountain, so I thought it appropriate.

However, the biggest part of the news is this: after ten months, building work on the centre is finally complete, and Mitu will be visiting the centre on July 13th for it’s official opening. We’re very excited about this, so keep an eye on this blog and Arohon’s Twitter account for the deluge of updates Mitu will no doubt be posting during (or, more likely, just after, due to the lack of internet access) visit.

Also, quite excitingly, as of February this year, we met the conditions necessary to register as an official UK charity – so that’s what we are now! UK registered charity 1140028, to be precise.

But, most importantly, thank you to everyone who made this project possible – your names are credited in the video. Every penny you donated – and more! – went towards the building of this centre.

This project has been an adventure by many accounts, and not just in terms of climbing actual mountains – but metaphorical ones too, with building escalating and running over time. However, having conquered this first peak, the real hard work starts here – while the centre has been built, the real work lies in making it a success. We are, however, pleased that so many other organisations have also begun to place so much focus women’s education & empowerment in developing countries, thanks to the recognition that this is what is needed to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. As Kofi Annan said, “there is no tool more effective for development than the empowerment of women.”

There’s a long journey ahead, and we’ll still need your support, so if you are able to donate, please do so at http://www.bmycharity.com/arohon, by clicking on the ‘Donate’ link on the left sidebar.

Edit: Please do let me know if your name SHOULD be in the video, but is missing – I recompiled the donor’s list from email notifications, as I don’t currently have access to the full list from BMYCharity. However, you should email me and let me know!