Mount Everest rekindled my life: Survivor empowers fellow abuse victims

Siliva Vasquez- Lavado is the founder of Courageous Girls, a San Francisco based non-profit that helps survivors of sexual abuse heal through mountain climbing.

In 2005, Siliva who is a survivor of sexual abuse herself, spent seven days trekking the Himalayas. She was quoted as saying that the first time she saw Mount Everest, it gave her a sense of security and safety, which she had never felt before.

“I was so moved by the mountains that it rekindled my life,” said Silvia to ChicagoTribune.com.

She returned to Everest Base Camp in November 2015, with a group of girls from Nepal, who had been trafficked to India. Describing the moment they reached their destination, she wrote on her blog, that unlike so many of their dreams that had been shattered, the girls had stood proud and strong at the base of Everest, having finally realized one of their dreams.

Now Siliva is planning to a do the same for another group of girls from Young Women’s Freedom Center, a San Franciso based organization that helps young women from low-income background, who have survived abuse.

They have so far raised a total of $17,502 of their target of $35,000 through a IndieGoGo campaign.

“The first time seeing Mount Everest gave me a security, a sweetness, a tenderness, a sense of safety I had never felt,” said Lavado to Heidi Stevens of Chicago Tribune.

This fundraiser is her effort to extend the same liberation to her fellow abuse survivors.

You can learn more about Courageous Girls here.

Banner Photo Credit: Silvia Vasquez-Lavado