A trek to change minds

Indore’s Avnish Tiwari trekked to Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar with his father when he was eight — a journey his family made to change how people see children with disabilities.

By The Young Achievers2 min readSources checked 22 October 2026

✓ Verified · Age 9

Avnish Tiwari · 9 when he received the national award in January 2024

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The trek

Avnish Tiwari lives in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He was adopted as a baby by Aditya Tiwari, who has written about first seeing him in an orphanage and deciding to become his father; the adoption was completed in January 2016. Avnish has Down syndrome, and his family speaks about it openly, with one message: children like him belong in every part of life.

In April 2022, Avnish trekked with his father to Everest Base Camp in Nepal and up Kala Patthar, a point 5,545 metres (about 18,200 feet) high. The Golden Book of World Records lists him as the ‘Youngest Differently Abled Child to Trek Himalayan Kala Patthar’ — that title is the record body’s own.

A message, carried on foot

Before the trek, his father told ANI that the idea was “to change the mindset about specially challenged children” and to open up sports like trekking to them. Avnish is also an athlete with Special Olympics Bharat, his father said in the same interview. The family’s advocacy includes the #WalkForInclusion campaign, which Aditya Tiwari describes in his own published account, and talks the father and son give together.

On 22 January 2024, Avnish received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for 2024 in the Social Service category from President Droupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. He was the only awardee from Madhya Pradesh among the 19 children honoured.

✳ A spark to explore

What is one activity in your school that could be made easier for a classmate who learns or moves differently? That is a question from us, not part of Avnish’s record.