‘Time Flies’ and it flew taking me very near to the door to completion of my 9 year of tour. It feels like yesterday in Uganda when we celebrated eighth year.

From Jinja, where the river Nile started; I started my ninth year. Like in various parts; the river Nile is no exception in deterioration by logging and mining. I was upset by the careless behavior towards environment and shared in my previous stories too. Mount Kilimanjaro was fascinating in Tanzania. Feeling the warmth of Malawi, passing through Victoria Lake was ravishing. And it would be my worst effort to explain the terrifying beauty of the gigantic Victoria Falls.

It is always an honor to be a part of peace by spreading the message of peace and environment protection. In Democratic Republic of Congo, I got a chance to meet the Blue Helmet peacekeepers from Sabjuj Batallion. We shared common attributes and I am gratified to have a chance to meet those benevolent individuals and it was immense happiness to get a due honor and respect from them.

Also I regularly met dignitaries of country I visit to share my message of peace and environment protection with the hope that they would play a vital role to develop a peaceful sustainable world.

It was a painful experience to be at Kigali Memorial Centre. I witnessed the leftovers of the ‘Rwandian Genocide’. It was the battle between two tribes- Hutus and Tutsis. The event killed more than a million Rwandian; almost all of which were Tutsis. Being there we can now only feel harmony and peace. Their ability to overcome hatred by forgiveness and resilience is appreciable.

Pedaling in the 7 different hills of Burundi was a little difficult. And the effort was worth it too. In South Africa, I almost lost my bicycle. Common problems on the way like hunger, injury, illness, bicycle breaking down, having no place to stay etc. followed me this year too.

One of my achievements this year is interacting with kids. It is said that if new generation understands the meaning of sustainable development, there would have no problem with violence and environment degradation. Meeting the futures of the world in Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia and sharing about peace and environment was a privilege.

Furtemba Foundation also supported some differently able people at Anandaban hospital in Nepal. Distributing 22 wheelchairs to leprosy patients and hospital was made possible with the support of kind hearted people around the world. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all my dearest friends for their selfless support. Some kids in Minnensota also joined hands to gift wheelchairs by garage sale they conducted.

While travelling, I meet a lot of people with differentiated culture, nationality and attributes. All of them have been highly friendly and supportive to me. I got financial and moral support, inspirations, motivations and best wishes from all around the world for the continuation of my tour. Words are powerless to express my gratitude to all of them.

I travelled 11,213 Km in 12 countries this year. It would never have been this good without your support, inspirations and motivation. Thank you very much.

Peace and Harmony.

Furtemba Sherpa