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CAN Projects Khumbu Region - Machhermo Porter Shelter and Rescue Post Machhermo is high in the Khumbu region, eight kilometres north of Namche Bazaar at an altitude of 4410 metres. The valley is long and difficult, making it hard for those suffering from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) to lose height quickly thereby helping recovery. The locals call this area death-valley. It came to the notice of CAN and the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) that as many as eight porters a year were dying in this valley due to AMS and exposure. Many died alone beside the trail. It is a myth that porters do not suffer from AMS, or from carrying heavy loads; they do. Initially the IPPG set up a rescue post at Namgyal Lodge. Porters were given help and medication donated by sponsors; trekkers needing medical attention were also helped but they were charged a small fee. This fee was re-invested in the system to help cover the running costs.
In 2003 a partnership was established between CAN, the Khumbu Buffer Zone and IPPG to build a shelter for the porters. The initial design work was done by Dr Jim Duff (IPPC), Canadian architect, Austin Metivier and Jiban Karki (CAN).The local committee quite properly took ultimate responsibility for on-site administration and keeping a weather eye on the building work. CAN became responsible for building the shelter under the supervision of Govinda the CAN Overseer who has done an excellent job, harmoniously supervising the project work to completion. Mention must also be made of the excellent and co-operative support and help given by Namgyal Sherpa, Tensing Tashi Sherpa, Chair of the Buffer Zone and Chhewang Sherpa, the CAN/IPPG local liaison person. Now that the main structural work is complete IPPG are responsible for fitting out and running the Shelter and Rescue Post and the Buffer Zone for the ultimate management strategy. Work started on the shelter in the spring of 2004 with a ‘Stone Breaking’ ceremony and has continued through to completion with occasional interruptions caused by the seasonal weather. Finance has been raised through many individual fundraising initiatives (see CAN Newsletters 6 and 7), auctions of signed prints, donations and grants including equipment donated by North West Mountain Rescue Groups and a substantial grant from Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust UK. Sir Edmund Hillary has indirectly helped to raise a large portion of the funds for Machhermo by signing prints and posters that Doug has auctioned at lectures.They continue to be in great demand! There is a reserve price of £250 – the top price to date being £1250 at the RGS CAN/Promise Nepal lecture, 30 September 2005. The building is now complete and it is anticipated that it will be in full use by the beginning of Spring 2006. The final local audit has been successfully completed and, in line with local administrative protocol, the building will come under the control of the local Buffer Zone who will implement stringent management plans. Congratulations are due to all who have helped, donated funds and worked on the site, from inception to project completion.
STOP PRESS -
Machhermo is
now open! "High in the Nepalese Himalaya trekkers and climbers come to appreciate the breathtaking beauty of the roof of the world. They, and the lodges that serve them, are supported by Nepalese porters who carry food, tents and belongings up and down the valleys and over the high passes - but danger lurks in this thin air. Every year porters die of altitude sickness and exposure, abandoned when they become ill, with little hope of treatment or shelter. Many more sleep under boulders at night, shivering around fires made from juniper torn from the hills, and leaving a scar of human waste on this fragile ecosystem. At Machhermo, though, things are changing. In an innovative partnership between Community Action Nepal the registered charity founded by Honorary Member, Doug Scott, and supported by the trading arm Community Action Treks Ltd, Jim Duff's International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) and the Khumbile Buffer Zone Authority, a porter shelter and medical rescue post has been built on land donated by the National Park. It was opened on 10 October 2006 by Doug and Jim, in a moving ceremony led by Tenzing Zangbu, Lama of Khunde. Under bright sunlight, amidst drifting juniper smoke, monks chanted, played horns and cymbals, and rice was thrown at the new building. A young monk beat a Tibetan drum throughout - the slow, regular thud giving the impression that the heart of Machhermo itself had come alive. It was a joyful day, for this place will save lives; within 48 hours two trekkers had been evacuated and many porters were using the shelter. Machhermo has brought hope for the future of this fragile environment and for the men who work so incredibly hard and give so much here." Dr Mary Selby
Machhermo Porter Shelter and Rescue Post Since the official opening on the 10 October 2006 up to the 25 December 2006, 689 porters have used the Shelter and 142 medical cases have been treated. Many porters were initially reluctant to visit the Post but once they had made their first stay they have ‘raved’ about it and word is spreading through the porter community like wild fire. For 30 rupees a night the porters get a blanket, a bed mat and kerosene and what is important they feel this is good value for money. This day and age it is difficult, high up in the valley, for the porters to get two meals of Dal Bhat and six cups of tea a day for less that 300 rupees. In the Everest Valley it is even harder. For the porters who barely scrape together 300 rupees a day in wages, this shelter is a Godsend.
Community Action Nepal and especially the porters are all extremely grateful for all the help and support from the generous friends of the Nepalese porters around the world who have contributed to this project.
Porter Shelter Project Following a request and support from the porters themselves, the local lodge owners and the Himalayan Rescue Association, Community Action Nepal is now working in partnership with the Khumbi La Buffer Zone and the lodge owners of Gorak Shep to build a shelter in the high and wild Everest Valley. We would welcome all the UK Trekking Companies to give regular support to the Porter Shelter Project especially as porter staff from many other companies use the Shelter on a regular basis! Does anybody recognise the ‘Yellows’? This Shelter will be a dedicated lasting memorial to Mingma Sherpa, a young deaf and dumb Sherpa who sadly slipped and drowned in 1975 in the shallow lake that sometimes appears in the Gorak Shep Basin. If you would like to support this initiative and the Everest trail porters, then please contact the CAN office in Carlisle or send donations to the office marked Porter Shelter Project. |
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Reg. Charity No: 1067772 - Stewart Hill Cottage, Near Hesket Newmarket, Wigton, Cumbria, CA7 8HX |
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The
Machhermo Porter Shelter and Rescue Post Management Committee is
made up of the Machhermo lodge owners who take a year in rotation to
manage and look after the Post. As a side issue the Management
Committee have banned the ‘under the boulders camping’ and have made
it illegal to cut juniper in the valley. This is a local and very
positive initiative.