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Trekkers Help Mountain Villages Develop
FrontLines - February 2010
You are panting in the thin
air 10,000 feet above sea level
as the rocky trail climbs steeply
towards the white Himalayan
giants up the valley ahead. Suddenly
you hear the dull chimes
of the cowbells.
The foreign trekkers and the
Nepali porters all scramble to
the edge of the trail as the sharp
horns of long-haired yaks or
hairless “dzo”—a mix of yak
and cow—appear, laden with
tents, sleeping bags, cooking
equipment, and bottles of beer.
The gentle animals pass and
you resume the climb.
A porter is easily hired at the
start of the trail for $10 a day—
$20 if they speak English. Most
are Sherpas, Tamang, Rai, or
from other hill tribes.
|
A
Kathmandu
cycle
rickshaw
driver
waits for
customers
under a sign
advertising
cell phone
cards.
|
Each day in October, when
the monsoon rains end, hundreds
of trekkers start out for
Everest Base Camp at 17,000
feet, higher passes or peaks, or
simply Namche Bazzar at
12,000 feet, the largest village
in the Sherpa region.
Namche is full of small shops
selling handicrafts and warm
clothing. Small hotels and guest
houses offer hot showers, warm
bedding, and decent meals.
Around the crowded tables, trekkers
and climbers discuss how to
avoid altitude sickness, what
routes are best to take, and where
they’ve been in the past.
Along the trails, community
forests protected and managed
by USAID-supported programs
continue to grow tall
and stave off erosion and landslides.
Aid programs also support
schools, improve agriculture
on the terraced fields, and
offer health care such as condom
distribution to prevent
disease.
When Everest was first conquered
by Edmund Hillary and
Tenzing Norgay in 1952,
climbers and trekkers stayed in
tents or in village homes where
people lived a simple and hard
life without education, medical
care, or electricity. Today,
thanks to perseverance, aid
programs, and income from
trekkers, people are better fed
and have warm clothing to
endure the frosty nights. Many
guides have graduated from a
high school built by Hillary.
But along the trail, with the
black and white stony summit
of Everest looming close by,
school children perform Nepali
dances to flute and drum music
as they seek contributions from
trekkers for a school library.
And sacks of USAID food are
carried over ice and stone to
hungry settlements by yak caravans.
It reminds a visitor that
whatever has been achieved in
40 years since his last visit,
much remains to be done.
★
FrontLines Editorial Director Ben Barber wrote this series of articles following a trip to Nepal in October. All photos by Ben Barber unless otherwise noted.
FrontLines is published
by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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Material should be submitted
by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov
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