UPDATE May 9, 2015
The 2015 Mt Everest climbing season is now officially cancelled, after the deadly avalanche that swept away the fixed rope system through the icefall on the route. Nineteen lives were lost. The western media seems to have given fifty per cent of their news coverage to Everest. The other fifty per cent was given to the thousands of Nepalis who died, as well as the eight million who are affected. Recent reports express concern about a food shortage ( i.e., a famine) in Nepal because seed stocks were damaged just before planting season. A Million people are in the food shortage zone. I don't know where the balance of media coverage will go, and I'm worried that Nepal will fade from the news in USA. Six months from now, the celebrity media will parachute in to some other place in crisis. Maybe Sanjay Guptawill do brain surgery on TV in Baltimore or somewhere else in crisis. And then - leave.
(please note, I am not minimizing the ongoing tragedy in Baltimore, by any means.)
I wrote this piece in my own blog in May 2014, after a separate disaster on Everest that cancelled that other season. I should note, that Kathmandu is still rebuilding as of May 9th, and will be for awhile. Nepal is not easy "first Asian country" if you have never travelled in Asia.
reposted after editing, from my own blog in May 2014, when the 2014 season was suspended after many Nepali guides were killed.
Note: people ask me to give my take on the Nepali political situation, but I cannot. It's too complicated and a major rule of working as an expat is to stay out of local politics. But, here is the best summary to date, written by Manjushree Thapa.
An Open Letter
Dear Disappointed would-be conqueror of Mt Everest:
So, you had this fantasy of following in the footsteps of the late Sir Edmund Hillary. You paid a nonrefundable deposit of tens of thousands of dollars. You spent months getting fit to hike in high altitude. You bought a round-trip ticket to Kathmandu. And you cleared two months from your schedule for the big push to the top.
You expected that somehow, climbing this mountain, highest in the world, would change you. It would prove to those around you that you were the best. For the rest of your life you would have the ultimate "can-you-top-this" putdown at cocktail parties. You would be released from further adrenaline seeking behavior, since after all - what is left after climbing Everest?
The Late Sir Edmund Hillary had to face this question - what next? - every day of his life after the feat he shared with Tenzing Norgay Sherpa. Hillary is revered in the Solu Khumbu region, but it may surprise you to know that his climbing prowess was only a small factor in the respect he gained there. He used his fame to build schools and hospitals and to elevate the standard of living in a region of grinding poverty and backbreaking labor. He continued to visit Solu Khumbu for many years after his epic climb, even after High Altitude Pulmonary Edema put an end to his climbing career. He maintained a lifelong friendship with Mr. Norgay.
"Reaching the summit of a mountain gives great satisfaction, but nothing for me has been more rewarding in life than the result of our climb on Everest, when we have devoted ourselves to the welfare of our Sherpa friends."
◾As quoted in Great Climbs: A Celebration of World Mountaineering (1994) by Sir Chris Bonington (Wikipedia)
I could go on, but there are better biographies written by better scholars. The point seems to be, Hillary accomplished a feat of great manhood, then realized that there was more to being a man. He acted accordingly.
Re-ordering your life now
Here is the point: Why not come to Nepal anyway? Why not act as if you have mentally conquered the mountain, and go straight to phase two, where you selflessly work for the betterment of the people here? After all, it's what those Sherpa guys were doing - getting money to support their families and their community. You could volunteer in a school or orphanage, you could learn about Buddhist and Hindu devotion to family, you could learn about how people put the welfare of others, even the welfare of total strangers, before themselves. That is what the tragically-deceased Sherpa guides were doing, but this ethic permeates Nepali society, it's why they are renowned for hospitality. From childhood, Nepali people are taught to revere the Buddha which may appear from among the people around them. With hard work and honor, you can learn this attitude from them.
Why Not?
You could be that person. You can mentally stand on a mountain of your own construction, and proclaim it as a chance to grow into a new person as if you were Hillary on Everest.
On my own trips to teach critical care skills to nurses and doctors in Nepal I have learned the great satisfaction in working side-by-side with motivated people. Together we work hard to overcome the lack of equipment or money in this low income country, and help people live better lives.
I learned to question things that we take for granted in the West. I have learned to reject materialism, as well as the outward trappings of a Western lifestyle in which consumerism and consumption of resources takes more precedence than caring for those persons around you.
I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top. They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn't impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die. (Sir Edmund Hillary)
Life is precious here, and the Sherpa guides who are now cancelling the 2014 climbing season are showing you the value they put on family. They will risk everything they have, to put bread on the table.
Isn't that a better lesson to learn?
Oh, and long before the earthquake, I wrote two books about health care in Nepal. Neither is a best seller, nor will they ever be, but they are intended as guides for any person who wishes to learn in-depth about how health care is delivered in Nepal. I invite you to read them. You're going to need to do more than just read The Snow Leopard. Why not learn about the other Nepal, the part away from Everest?
UPDATE: right now, the general advice is not to rush here to provide relief services unless you are part of an established group. In the long run, Nepal needs specific technical expertise in a number of areas. This includes critical care, the area I work in. Before a doctor or nurse comes to Nepal, I highly recommend a cultural orientation, and this other blog I wrote, gives a summary of how to go about becoming culturally competent for Nepal or anywhere.
