The Himalayan Dispatch
Field updates, project progress, and the odd story from sixty years of archives.
The history of healthcare in the Khumbu
Healthcare in the Khumbu began with smallpox vaccinations in 1963. Khunde Hospital opened in 1966, Phaplu Hospital followed in 1975, and leadership passed to Nepali doctors.
What Gabi did for Phaplu and Khunde
Gabi emailed from Sydney to ask what the hospitals at Phaplu and Khunde actually needed, then raised the money, sourced the scrubs in Kathmandu, and carried two duffel bags up the valley.
Sir Edmund Hillary Visitor Centre handed over
On 7 November the Sir Edmund Hillary Visitor Centre at Khumjung School passed formally to the School Management Committee. Not a ribbon-cutting, a transfer of responsibility.
From Lukla to Lincoln: Ngima's journey
Ngima went to a Trust-supported school in Lukla, studied the environment in Kathmandu, and is now at Lincoln University researching the Thame Valley flood on a Mingma Norbu Scholarship.
A new trail takes shape in the Solukhumbu forest
Bistari, Bistari winds through old-growth forest above Phaplu. A trek group funded it after realising there was no way into the trail network without a car, and the jobs it created have cut illegal logging.
A new roof for an old school
The roof of the original Khumjung school building had started to leak. A new structure now protects the aluminium building, and the Sir Edmund Hillary Visitor Centre exhibit inside it, from snow loading and high winds.
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Field updates, project progress, and the odd story from sixty years of archives, sent only when there's something worth your inbox. Consider it the first look. For the reporting that goes deeper, that's what membership is for.
