Many mourn for the people of Nepal.
My good friend, Chhongba Sherpa, was injured in the avalanche at Everest Base Camp, flown by helicopter to Periche and Lukla, and then to a hospital in Kathmandu. He is now at home in Kathmandu, but I do not know if that is because his condition is good or because of their severe shortage of hospital beds. However, he was sufficiently well to email me and state optimistically, “Nepal is in trouble but it will be better soon.” But I fear the country needs many donations, particularly to organizations that really understand the country and have associates who live there.
Chhongba is a one-man NGO doing amazing things to help the people of his home region with some financial help from the US, particularly Leeli Bonney and her Tara Foundation USA — power poles to bring electricity to remote villages, bridges so children can get to school safely, blankets for those who cannot afford them, building a home on his land for a Rai porter and his family. The list goes on.
The home Chhongba built for Maila Rai and his family, a porter who works with him often, is shown above. On the right side of this photo is a corner of Chhongba’s home in Nunthala, a four to six day’s walk from Everest Base Camp. Maila, his wife and daughter are show at the right.
Chhongba also reported that his son, Mingmar, is back safely in base camp. He walked from Camp 2 to Camp 1 and was then helicoptered down to base camp since the previous route through the Khumbu Icefall was impassible. Chhongba also said that he hopes to visit New Hampshire in May. I very much look forward to seeing him again.
This photo at the top of this post was taken less than a day’s walk from Chhongba’s home village of Nunthala. That is quite close in the mountains where most everything is many days’ walk.
Photos of Mingmar and Chhongba at Everest base camp in 2012 can be seen in this post: https://www.jimblockphoto.com/2012/06/tribute-to-two-young-sherpas/
Jim
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