Jam Day is the one Saturday every year where people from all over Hong Kong come to visit our school and take part in ISF’s school fair. This was how the idea for the Trail Guardians was born; a few of my friends and I decided Jam Day offered the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and funds for the local Sherpa community in Nepal. With such a large flow of people, we wanted to create a stall that was not only fun and engaging, but also meaningful, one with the potential to create a substantial impact. 

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Inspired by the hardships of the Sherpa porters, who often carry extremely heavy loads up steep mountain trails, we decided that our booths should allow visitors to experience that challenge for themselves. This would soon become the “porter squat challenge,” where curious people could attempt to complete the most squats possible with weight on their back. Later, we added our mascot – the Trail Monster – a creative DIY, eco-friendly moss ball that everyone could take home and use as decoration, helping balance out physical engagement with creativity and adding another layer to our booth experience. 

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We decided that we should help support an NGO actually created by a Sherpa, reaching out to the Apa Sherpa Foundation and requesting that they serve as our beneficiary – leveraging any potential funds to create educational and vocational opportunities for Nepali Sherpa children. Unfortunately, our school met financing issues and asked us to select an alternate charity. Hence, we settled on the World Wide Fund for Nature, who have done remarkable conservational work in the Himalayan region and have continually supported the local community. This made them a very worthy alternative.

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When Jam Day finally arrived, the atmosphere was electric, the campus buzzing with excitement. Our booth stood out with our nature-themed decorations and unique mascot, drawing attention from students and parents alike. Almost immediately, students saw our leaderboard and prizes for the porter squat challenge, and curiosity turned into enthusiasm as students competed with one another as they fought for the leaderboard. Laughter echoed as people worked together and struggled to balance the basket, cheering each other on as they completed each squat. The personal record came from a fifth-grader named Noah, who singlehandedly completed 92 squats in 2 minutes, putting his 110% into it and collapsing in exhaustion at the end, exclaiming how he couldn’t believe people actually carried this weight while trekking. On the other hand, our Trail Monster attracted the attention of the parents, as they were drawn to the goofy and cute look, each taking their own little Trail Monster home to give them names and stories.

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By the end of the day, we were thrilled with how many students, parents and teachers participated in our stall. We managed to raise over HKD 1,000 for WWF’s Himalayan conservation program and, more importantly, spread awareness about the Sherpa community and their connection with the environment. It was amazing to see how our booth managed to impart empathy and focused attention on sustainability. Many visitors said that they had never heard about the hardships – or even the existence of Sherpas – and never thought about how physically demanding their jobs are. A majority of these visitors walked away with our brochures and asked thoughtful questions about how they could get involved. For us, this genuine sense of curiosity and engagement was the biggest success of all. 

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Looking back, Jam Day was more than an event, but a meaningful journey. Through Trail Guardians, we not only brought attention to the incredible resilience of the Sherpas but also showed that awareness can begin with the simplest experiences, like lifting a weight or shaping a ball of moss. We’re grateful to everyone who visited our booth, took the challenge, or made a Trail Monster of their own. Most of all, we thank WWF for inspiring our mission and our school for giving us the chance to turn an idea into action.