News of our Nepal Volunteer Trek & Projects

• Run by the MountEverestFoundation.org.
• Dates : 14 to 26 June or 17 to 29 November. 13 Days in Nepal. Or, flexible dates on offer: Go whenever you like.
• Price - Donation: $1,850 £1,050 €1,550 (Gift-Aid Eligible UK / IRS Tax-deductible US) (100% of your contribution for the trek and your international flight are tax deductible).  (Converted 15-06-2018)
• We welcome all members to join this trek, including medical practitioners, educators, farmers, gardeners, technicians, builders, foresters, renewable energy professionals, and everyone else. You don't have to be an expert to make a difference.

    

Gen donating to student. Cynthia Jones posing.

  

Check up in health centre. Donating in Patle village

My summary of the Remote Nepal Service Trek -  J. Pablo.

I am extremely grateful to Gen and Cindy for their most generous friendship, camaraderie and help every day of the trip. I think I can speak for Gen and Cindy as well as for myself when I say that we have been most blessed by having met and shared this Nepal remote service trek with Mount Everest Foundation, and their families, all the Sherpas, all the people we met along the way, at the clinic and school in Dorakharka, and back in Kathmandu.

I hope we were able to make a small difference for good in the lives of some of the patients and school children in Dorakharka. I know I learned a lot from them and took a lot with me.

The service trek would not have been possible with the help from so many people, but specially Mount Everest Foundation staff at the clinic, and they went way out of their way to help and entertain us not only in remote Nepal, but also back in Kathmandu. What great people they are!

I want to include here a “poem” written by Cindy, with her permission:

How to tell if you have just been in Nepal:

Your smoke infused raincoat smells like perfection. The air conditioning is too cold.

There's no taste to the air.

The only snoring you hear is your pug and he doesn't sound like a zipper. The walk from the parking lot into work is too dull-not even a piece of heavy machinery to dodge!

The roads are too wide, flat and smooth.

There is too much space between buildings and between people. Everyone seems too big, loud, and pale.

The side head tilt is missing.

Most of the bowls in your house do not sing.

You'll never look at a brown cow in the same way-they're everywhere here, but usually not in the middle of the road.
Most of the traffic lights function well and almost no one has one in their living room. I met Juan Pablo Murphy in the lobby of the Hotel in Kathmandu may be the first line of a future novel, but it really did happen.

Very few people around you would actually carry you if you needed them to. No one smiles and says Namaste.
No one calls you for Tea.

There are Temples, but they are not inhabited by monkeys.

Kaji, Pranoj, Dorji are all names that roll off your tongue but you find yourself struggling to pronounce cucumber correctly.

You dream in Nepalese. The stars are too far away.

The buildings are not cloud kissed.

The mist doesn't permeate the hilltops. You finally truly understand what Need is. You have been touched by God. Namaste, Cindy Jones.

As it is now customary, I apologize for all inaccuracies and mistakes in this summary. A lot of details have been omitted, and as usual, I took way too many photographs during the trip, trek, some of them came out all right. I have put a lot of them on an internet site, in a lot of different galleries or albums, which I hope you can get access to, just in case you are interested and have the time. (I have many other photographs in my computer, just in case you want to see more.)

 

• 25 June
  
• 24 June
  
• 23 June
  
• 22 June
  
• 21 June
  
• 20 June
  
• 19 June.
  
• 18 June
  
• 17 June
  
• 16 June
  
• 15 June
  
• Team Roster
  

    

Dr. Gen K. donating.

    

Trekking with sherpas. Trekking group with Jangbu

Monday, 25 June - Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation, this time in the back court yard of the hotel. Breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, and then we went to a rock climbing wall a couple of blocks from the hotel. It turns out that Gen has been rock and mountain climbing for 40 years, and Cindy has been doing it for about two years, and both of them are very passionate about the sport. Rock climbing this morning seems to have been very therapeutic for Cindy’s knee.

  

Pranoj R. enjoying trekking at Patle village. Poster paint in wall.

  

Dr. Gen K. Cynthia Jones posing 

    

Prayers flag

Sunday, 24 June - Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation in my hotel room and then breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. After breakfast, dropped off laundry by the front desk and then went with Gen and Cindy shopping for souvenirs in Thamel and beyond. Gen did a magnificent job of bargaining with the vendors and keeping track of who paid for what, so latter on we could sort out whom owed money to whom. We went back to the hotel by 13:30 to meet Deha and his wife who took us to lunch to a quaint restaurant in Thamel. After lunch, back to the hotel, and then back to shopping so more.

After visiting the temple, we went to Kaji’s house, which also happens to be the headquarters of the SummitClimb.com, SummitTrek.com. Kaji and his wife fed us a most wonderful late lunch of coleslaw, hot cakes, French fries and Spam, with, of course, lots of milk tea.

  

Service treks group.

  

Service trek members on the way. Service trek group

Saturday, 23 June - Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation in my hotel room and then breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. Pranoj met us at the hotel’s lobby mid-morning to take us by taxi to the Swoyambhu Mahachaitya temple, otherwise known as the Monkey temple. It is located in the western part of Kathmandu. We met Kaji a couple of block from the temple, very close to where he lives, and Kaji and Pranoj were our tour guides. Said our good bye to the rest of the Sherpas that had gone with us back to Kathmandu. Deha showed up at the hotel with his wife to get our first impressions of the remote service trek. All in all, everything went quite well and we made a very good team. Later on Gen, Cindy and I went to Kathmandu restaurant, a restaurant half a block from the hotel, to have mint lemonade and desserts.

  

Team at health centre. Students in assembly.

  

Students in assembly. Trekkers group photo

Friday, 22 June - Early morning rise to do Cayce exercises, prayer and meditation, outside by the side of the road. Was able to admire the Milky Way one last time, although not as bright as it was at Dorakharka. Had to have the entire gear ready by 5:30 to be able to load it into the SUV when it showed up at the hotel by 6:00. This time we had nine people in the vehicle going back to Kathmandu, but less gear, and it took about 11 hours to get back to the hotel, with one or two stops for meals.

  

Dr. Gen K. donating in village.

Thursday, 21 June - Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation in my hotel room and then had another wonderful breakfast, with, of course, lots of milk tea. Started trekking around 8:00. Once again with stops in the humble house after the woods, and then at the large tea house where the outhouse is behind the brown cow. Had a very leisurely lunch, and then started the final stretch back to Dhap where we arrived by 14:00. Later in the afternoon, we went for a short walk of about one kilometer to the line between the districts or states, and then back to the hotel. In the middle of the night, there was a lot of commotion outside the hotel. Lots of people and vehicles organizing a search party for a woman that had gone missing, except that later on she was found at home safe and sound. After the ceremony at the school, we went to a family’s house to have more milk tea and cookies, and received kjatas from our hosts. In the meantime, back at the clinic, Dorje and the Sherpas had fashioned a chair out of a basket so Cindy could be transported back to “civilization”, because at this time is was clear to her that her knee was not going to withstand the strenuous two day hike back to Dhap. We went back to the clinic to say our good bye to nurse Pimba, and cook Dorje, and some of the Sherpas who would not be going back with us. Because we did not have boxes of medicine with us, nor donated school supplies, our loads were now much lighter. Loaded up our back packs and started heading away from Dorakharka village late in the morning. This time we crossed the Molang Khola sacred river at a different place, upstream, and then a very steep ascent up the mountain with a couple of breaks in between. Stopped for lunch in a prairie in the mountain. Had hard boiled eggs, yak cheese, flat bread, potatoes, apples, all very good. The Sherpas were taking turns carrying Cindy in her chair on their backs. Made it into the village of Jhapre early in the afternoon to rest and have a good supper.

Gen, Cindy and I distributed to each child present a note book we had purchased in Kathmandu and then presented to the teachers and the principal of the school, in a very ceremonial way, all the items we had brought from home to donate: T-shirts, note books, pencils, Crayolas, stuffed toys, educational toys, and other sundry items. Not sure how they are going to distribute all those items, but I hope each child gets what will be for the most benefit for them. Received several kjatas from the teachers.

  

Beautiful statue. At job by old women

 

Carrying goods. Carrying grass for animals

Wednesday, 20 June - After doing my Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation again by the edge of the cliff, a hot shower, and then had another wonderful breakfast prepared by Dorje, with, of course, lots of milk tea, and by 10:00, we all headed up the hill about 200 meters, to the local school with a duffel bag full of plastic bags with items to donate. The children were in the patio doing their morning calisthenics. End of the clinic. Yet another wonderful supper prepared by Dorje.

Once again, got up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse, and was able to admire the Milky Way which was still spectacular, as was Mars.

  

Service trek team in health camp. Small kid playing hide and seek

  

Service trek group.

  

Roads covered by trees. Prayers flag

Tuesday, 19 June - After doing my Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation again by the edge of the cliff, a hot shower, then had another wonderful breakfast prepared by Dorje, with of course, lots of milk tea, we started seeing patients early in the morning. Kaji and Dorje would stop all activities once or twice during the day so we could all have a small break to drink more milk tea and eat cookies. The second day of clinic we attended to about fifty eight patients, and then at the end of the day, which was around 18:30, Gen examined Dorje, and Kaji, and Nurse Pimba, and Pranoj, and all the shepas: Phurba Sherpa (son of Dorje Sherpa), Pemba Sherpa (son of Dorje Sherpa), Pasang Nuri, Gyalje Sherpa, and Gyalbo Sherpa, and even me. This day, the most severe patient was a little girl of about two and a half years old that had gotten her feet and calves burnt with hot water when she tipped the pot from the stove. She was a very brave little girl and Dr. Gen and Nurse Cindy did a most wonderful job of cleaning and dressing her burnt feet and legs.

Had another wonderful supper prepared by Dorje, with of course, lots of milk tea. Got up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse, and was able to admire the milky way which was spectacular and I had not seen in many years. Mars was very bright in the eastern sky. Got back down to the clinic by 10:30 where we started seeing patients almost immediately assisted by the local nurse, Pimba Sherpa. It took us very little time to develop a system, where Kaji would assist in admitting patients into the examination room, Pranoj would talk to the patients to find out their story of ailments and translate the information to Gen and Cindy. Cindy would take their blood pressure, temperature, etc. Gen would examine the patients thoroughly, and come up with a diagnosis, Cindy would prepare the correct medications and doses to give to the patient, and Pranoj would explain to the patients how and when to take the medicines. My job was to take down notes while Gen was conducting her exams of every patient: condition of their eyes, ears, throat, lungs, heart, etc.

The first day we attended to about 42 patients, all ages, from babies to elders. A common complaint was itchy, irritated eyes because most people have wood burning stoves in their houses, sometimes without a chimney. Many people came from far away to be seen by doctor Gen and nurse Cindy. We finished work around 19:00. Received kjatas (silk scarves) from some of the patients. After visiting the monastery, on the way down back to the clinic, we stopped by Dorje’s house, where he fed us a most wonderful breakfast of hot cakes, potatoes, vegetables, and goat meat.

  

Trekkers group. Traditional kitchen

 

Street sign on the road. Stones carving on the way to trek

  

Statue in village.

  

Spoons bucket. Solar panel setup

Monday, 18 June - After doing my Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation by the edge of the cliff where the clinic is located, had milk tea and then went up hill about 45 minutes to the local monastery (gumpa) and stupa. Unfortunately, Cindy’s knee was hurting too much and she had to turn around after a few minutes and go back to the clinic. The monastery was most beautiful and we spent a few minutes there having more milk tea, prayers and meditation.

After a nice rest, we started going down the very steep path to the Molang Khola sacred river. Crossed the river at a covered bridge, and then went up hill to the village of Dorakharka where the service clinic is located. I lost my footing once in the narrow, muddy path, but was able not to fall completely of the path, and Cindy and Pranoj assisted me in getting back to my feet. Happy to report that did not happen to any of us. We made it to the clinic before 17:00. After some rest, Dorje prepared for us yet another wonderful meal. Spent some time unpacking and organizing the several boxes of medicine we had brought with us. Slept in the back rooms of the clinic. While trekking through some wooded area, a leech got onto Cindy’s arm, and while we were trying to figure out why her arm was bloody, and bandage it, somehow the same fat leech managed to jump onto my hand where it only had a chance to feed for a few minutes. Later on in the day, as we were starting going downhill, we stopped at someone’s very large house to have more milk tea and a repast of noodle soup and potatoes. Had breakfast and then went to visit the local Buddhist temple and Stupa. It was a very nice temple and a great way to start the day’s trek, going first uphill for a while. By mid-day, we stopped into someone’s very humble, but neat house to have a break and, of course, several cups of milk tea and cookies.

  

Cynthia Jones posing. Dr. Gen K.

Landscape and above the clouds. Hotel

  

Hotel. Road sign

  

Kids nurturing cow baby. Er. Juan Pablo M.

  

Lodge in village.

Sunday, 17 June - After doing my Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation, took some photographs of the sunrise from the window of my room before it started raining. Had breakfast and then went to visit the local Buddhist temple and Stupa. It was a very nice temple and a great way to start the day’s trek, going first uphill for a while. By mid-day, we stopped into someone’s very humble, but neat house to have a break and, of course, several cups of milk tea and cookies. We made it into the village of Jhapre early in the afternoon, and into a hotel, which was very nice by rural standards. It had an indoor toilet and even a hot shower. Napped and rested a while, took photographs in the area, and later on Dorje prepared for us another wonderful meal.

We stopped at a “Tea House” for a break, where the outhouse was behind the brown cow, and later on, at the top of a mountain, Dorje provided a wonderful lunch of flat bread, boiled eggs, honey, and mango juice. Unfortunately, Cindy twisted her left knee that morning while trekking and then had a hard time walking the rest of the way, but nevertheless, she kept on going strong.

  

Er. Juan Pablo M. trekking. Jangbu sherpa

  

Buddha statue in gumba. Buddhists paint on the wall

 

Cynthia Jones on the way. Cynthia Jones and Dr. Gen K.

Dr. Gen K. Praying. Enjoying the day at health post

 

Mana at Dhap. Childrens from Patle village

Saturday, 16 June - After doing my Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation in my room, followed by a very good breakfast prepared by Dorje, the three Sherpas, Kaji, Pranoj, Dorje, Gen, Cindy, and I were ready to start trekking in the back roads and paths of the mountains of Nepal, some of them very narrow and muddy. The scenery was spectacular all the way, every new prairie, hill, mountain and valley seeming more beautiful than the previous one. We stopped in a couple of villages for lunch and supper and after going through several mountains, valleys, hills, and settlements, we finally got to the village of Dhap around 17:00 where the jeep dropped us off to spend the night at the rustic “Magar Hotel” with no running water and an outhouse. There we met our cook for the trek, Mr. Dorje Sherpa, and the Sherpa porters that were to assist us greatly in carrying all of our gear, bags, medicines, and donation items for the school which we brought with us from the USA. Dorje prepared supper for us all, accompanied with milk tea. We had milk tea every day, several times a day, several cups each time, always very good tea.

  

On the way Dhap. Locals doing their job.

  

Highway roads. Transportation jeep

  

Tea house in Dhap. Shigane village

 

Friday, 15 June - After doing my Cayce exercises, prayers and meditation in my hotel room, had to be ready down in the lobby of the hotel with the duffel bags ready to load into the SUV by 5:30. The hotel restaurant gave us boxed breakfasts to take with us.

Besides the driver, we had Gen and Cindy, Pranoj, Kaji, a porter and myself in the “jeep”. It was a very long ride going east, thru mountains and valleys on roads which were not always in good condition. Had to stop once for about half an hour because the road was blocked in both directions by a land slide and had to wait for a back hoe to remove the mud and make the road passable again. The scenery was quite wonderful, and we were riding by a large river for a long time, surrounded by mountains.

Kaji brought two or three large duffel bags to put our gear and donation items in them. There were also three cardboard boxes full of assorted medicines we were to take to the health clinic in the remote village of Dorakharka, which is located one day’s drive east of Kathmandu, plus two more days of trekking.

Next, Kaji took us shopping in Thamel and beyond for all the items we were lacking. We purchased light weight trekking pants, a few locks for the duffel bags, umbrellas, some medicines, just in case, and about 120 thin notebooks to take with us to the primary school children in Dorakharka. Deha collected, for safe-keeping our passports, keys, credit cards, items we would not need in the remote villages of Nepal. That evening, Gen, Cindy and I went to the Gorkahana restaurant in Thamel, where we had typical Nepalese food and at the same time enjoyed traditional Nepalese dances and songs, complete with a yak and a yeti.

Nepal suffered a strong earthquake in April of 2015 and three years later they are still re- building. There is still rubble in many of the streets and there are many buildings that still have to be demolished, and there is also lots of new construction everywhere. It is the start of the monsoon season in Nepal, and although we did get rained on a few afternoons, rain was not too bad of an inconvenience for us.

  

Beautiful garden decoration at hotel shakti. Service trek team at hotel shakti

  

Different statue seen in Kathmandu. Sightseeing at Kathmandu

 

 Player flags are in Kathmandu street. Three wheelers in Kathmandu street.

  

Ganesh at hotel shakti. Musical shop

  

Traditional dance in Kathmandu.

  

Traditional looks hotel shakti. Temple in Kathmandu.

 

Team Roster:

• Dr. Gen K.
  
• Er. Juan Pablo M.
  
• Nurse Cindy J.
  
  
• Pranoj R. Translator
  

Staff:

• Neer Kaji Tamang - Trekking Guide
  
• Dorjee Sherpa - Cook