Muna Gurung - Trekking Guide
Muna Gurung, comes from a very remote mountainous district Manang. She comes from poor family and has seen many hardships in life. She was young when her father passed away and being the eldest daughter she had to help her mother in sharing the responsibility of the family of 5 members. Even with her hard work she was not able to fulfill the basic needs of the family. Also, she was not even able to complete her secondary school. Later at the age of 16 she was married in hope that her life would be better. But to her dismay her husband did not turn to be a good person. He had external affair. However, she tried to hide her sorrows and lived with him despite the hardships. After a year she gave birth to girl and hoped that her husband would come back to her for the sake of daughter. As time passed her grief grew more and more, and she was betrayed again. Her husband not only divorced her but also took away her daughter, which then was the only reason for to live. Her life was miserable and she sometimes thought of giving up her life.
Later, she heard about 3 Sisters and EWN, which were working for empowering women. The life had given her enough hardships and this had turned her into stronger women. She was now determined to get her daughter back and so upon hearing about the 3 Sisters she immediately came to Pokhara. She joined Basic Female Trekking Guide Training in 2007 and after the completion of the training started working as assistant in 3 Sisters. Due to her determination, confidence and sincerity she was gradually promoted to assistant guide. Later in the year 2010 she was able to become a permanent guide in 3 Sisters. She not only works as trekking guide but is also a Rock Climbing and Peak Climbing Guide.
She was very enthusiastic and learnt things quickly, so together with trekking she practiced rock climbing and peak climbing. Through the 3 Sisters she was able to take training not only in Nepal but also in other parts of the world. She has been to Italy, France and Poland for rock climbing and ice climbing training. Also, she had the opportunity to go to the Netherlands and Kenya for leadership training. Apart from the training she has successfully climbed Tent peak in 2008 and Chulu West in 2009. In 2011 she together with 3 other guides from 3 Sisters were able to summit Mt. Annapurna, becoming the first female summiteers in Nepal. At the recent years she has been living an independent life and has been able to get reunited with her daughter. This has been the most important achievement in life. She continues to work with 3 Sisters and enjoys sharing her knowledge about Nepal. She is friendly, cheerful and very calm person thereby making her favorite among the trekkers.
