Miranda Hardman with her photo.
Camera IconMiranda Hardman with her photo. Credit: Supplied/Martin Kennealey         d445464

Expedition Photo Voted In

Lauren PedenJoondalup Times

Her shot of a Sherpa resting on an Annapurna trail trumped more than 400 entries in the competition and was voted in from the 24 pictures shortlisted.

The Woodvale Secondary College Year 11 student took part in a World Challenge expedition to Nepal in 2014 where she helped at a school building facilities and teaching students.

“It was halfway through my trek to Poon Hill and we were just having a bit of a rest and chilling out and I just saw one of our Sherpas sit down on the rock… the weather was cloudy and it was really nice and just perfect,” Miranda said.

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“I heard about the World Challenge calendar competition and thought I’d submit one and even if it didn’t win, I’d give it a go.

“I was shocked (it was picked) because there were some really amazing ones. I’m the only one from Australia chosen – it was international so that’s quite cool.”

She said while the six-day trek had been difficult and rocky it was an amazing experience.

“The school offered (the expedition)… as soon as I heard about all the opportunities, the charity work, going to schools and helping building, painting and meeting the children, the trek especially and going to a new country, I just thought it sounded amazing,” she said.

“At the school we painted a wall with the planets and it was great to see the kids try to help out and to play with them and to see what their lives are like. We built a wall for them to keep the cows out.”

She said a highlight for her was seeing people with very little give so much and living such happy lives.

“You see on the news people in poverty or in a Third World country and you look at it but when I saw it I was like ‘this is how people live and they’re still really happy’, they don’t have a lot but what they have is family and they have a love for everyone and just to see people happy in a hard situation was amazing.

“It just made me want to help more and in the future I would definitely want to go back there and to other countries in the same situation and try to make a difference.”

For more, visit world-challenge.co.uk.