Nepalmountainnews Report | 23 May 2008
I met Sir Edmund Hillary for the last time three years ago. When I reached the office of the Himalayan Trust at Dilli Bazaar, he was there with a few other journalists.
“Despite the conflict in Nepal, there has been no incident targeted at tourists,” Hillary said. “Adventurous tourists need not hesitate to visit Nepal. I myself am proof of it as I come here every year.”
The Maoist conflict was at its peak then, and the political parties had started a mass movement against the king’s rule. The world media wasn’t convinced by Nepal’s assurances that it was safe for tourists to visit. But the BBC and Kantipur carried these statements by Hillary, and the impact was palpable. Hillary’s comments about Nepal made headlines the world over and proved a terrific inspiration for mountaineers. Nepal’s mountaineering sector never faced any problems even when other kinds of tourist activities were dwindling because of the fighting. Such was Hillary’s international influence.
I had met Hillary three or four times before that and had written around a dozen news articles about him. During our last encounter, I could not fulfill my desire to talk to him. His wife asked us if we could shorten the conversation since he was not feeling well, so we left after taking a few photos with him.
Hillary conquered the highest peak in the world along with Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953 to notch up another victory for human civilization. Following in his footsteps, nearly 300 foreign mountaineers with hundreds of Nepali helpers are now on the slopes of Everest trying to achieve a similar feat.
This is the Hillary season. However, Hillary who had been visiting Nepal every year for the last five decades is no more with us. He passed away last January, but another Hillary has currently come to Kathmandu as his representative.
“He will live forever in the hearts of the Sherpas of Khumbu as well as all Nepalis and mountaineers,” says Amelia Rose, Hillary’s granddaughter.
As soon as I saw Rose at the Nepal Tourism Board, I had wanted to talk to her about her experiences with her grandfather, but she left immediately.
A meeting was then arranged for Saturday. Upon reaching the Radisson Hotel, I found her sitting with another journalist in the lobby. Dressed in a white shirt and a pair of black jeans, 18-year-old Rose looked like a Hollywood actress. Her occasional smile reminded of her father Peter; she had a long face like his.
We had been meeting her grandfather during this season for the past few years. “This time we’re missing him,” I told her, introducing myself. “We’re very sad.”
She became emotional, and said after a few seconds, “He will continue to live in the hearts of everyone.”
She feels pride in introducing herself as a member of the Hillary family that has been a source of inspiration for courage and social service for the whole world. She said that she had come with the aim of continuing the social service mission started by her grandfather to help the Sherpa community for a better life.
Edmund Hillary has opened 27 schools including Khumjung School in the Khumbu region. The Himalayan Trust, established under his chairmanship 45 years ago, now supports 63 schools comprising nearly 7,000 students. The trust had established Phaplu Hospital at Phaplu in 1975 and handed it over to the government 14 years later. It has also been running Khumjung’s Khunde Hospital and about a dozen health clinics.
Hillary also had a big role in getting the Everest region declared as Sagarmatha National Park. Lukla Airport is also a result of his efforts. Since 1982, the trust has been planting 60-80,000 trees through three nurseries every year.
“The biggest challenge for the Hillary family is to continue the social service projects started by my grandfather in the Khumbu region 45 years ago and expand them to other parts of Nepal,” said Rose, adding that she would lend full support to her father Peter in this endeavor.
She had started helping in the mission while working as a public relations officer for two years in Paris. It has now reached Australia, where she is a first-year student of politics and history at Monash University.
She said that she was also the ambassador of the Australian Himalayan Foundation. Her objective is to organize get-togethers, and whenever possible, gather support to give shape to her grandfather’s philanthropic mission.
She expressed confidence about its continuity, and also revealed her plan to visit Dubai and Qatar in the Middle East soon to establish similar trusts there.
The Himalayan Trust has been working in the fields of education, health and environment in the Khumbu region. Hillary had himself set up separate Himalayan Foundations in Canada, America and various countries of Europe to support the trust.
Rose’s father Peter is also a member of the board of all these organizations. Their main job is to look after the projects, give them advice and suggestions and help them solve problems. Peter is also in Nepal for the same mission.
Rose, who has been visiting Nepal occasionally from a young age, had gone to Everest Base Camp with her father five years ago. That visit had implanted in her the desire to see the world from the summit of Everest.
So when will she climb the peak? “I know very well that it’s not an easy job,” says Rose who has climbed smaller mountains in New Zealand and France, “I’ll climb Mt Everest one day, but before that I want to make myself a strong mountaineer.” She has no concrete plans, though.
Rose has also seen Mt Everest from the northern side in 2002, but says, “I like Nepal a lot.” Her grandfather’s stories about Nepal and its mountains and Sherpas now seem real to her. She also remembers his praise for the sincere Sherpas and their ability to smile even during bad weather and other adversities.
“I’ve heard the most about the Sherpas,” she said, adding that she had talked to her grandfather during Christmas a few weeks before his death.
The Nepal Government granted honorary citizenship to Edmund Hillary during the golden jubilee celebration of the ascent of Mt Everest. Does she expect any other help from Nepal and the Nepalis? Rose shook her head and added, “However, we all should work together to reduce the increasing amount of waste in the Himalayan region and the effects of climate change.
She expressed happiness over the government’s announcement to celebrate May 29 as International Everest Day in honor of Hillary and Tenzing. She suggested that it would further help in promoting Nepal and its mountains if this program could be spread to other countries of the world. -- By Sanjay Neupane/TKP
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