For many people in the mountain village of Thame in the Everest region, the zero hour struck on 16 August. As reported, large parts of the village were destroyed that day – by masses of water, debris and mud from two glacial lakes below Tesi Lapche La (also known as Tashi Lapcha). The 5,755-meter-high pass leads from the Rolwaling Valley into the Khumbu. According to the regional administration, the flood hit at least 18 buildings. These included an elementary school and an infirmary in Thame, both built and financed by the Himalayan Trust, the aid organization of the Everest first ascender Sir Edmund Hillary, who died in 2008.
School in the village of Everest legends
The New Zealander had built the village’s first ever school already in 1963. It was replaced by a new building in 1979. In 2017, the school was also made earthquake-proof.
Tenzing Norgay, Hillary’s Nepalese rope partner on the first ascent of the world’s highest mountain, spent a large part of his childhood in Thame. Other Everest legends also come from the village, such as Apa Sherpa, who stood on the summit of Everest a total of 21 times between 1990 and 2011. Or Kami Rita Sherpa, who reached the highest point on earth for the 30th time last spring, more times than anyone else.
Temporary hostel in Khumjung
The flood on 16 August not only hit the classrooms of the elementary school in Thame, but also destroyed the hostel where around 40 of the students were housed during school time. Fortunately, the school was closed at the time of the disaster, so no one was physically harmed.
In the meantime, the schoolchildren from Thame have been brought to the village of Khumjung, a good ten kilometers away, “via a route through the hills avoiding the slips and landslides,” as Alexander Hillary, grandson of the Everest first ascender, reports. “The students are safe in the school and a new temporary hostel is being created for them.” The Himalayan Trust opened the first of its schools in Khumjung in 1961. The children from Thame are now also being taught there – at least temporarily.
Help for the schoolchildren from Thame
Money is needed so that they can soon return to their home village and go to school there. The Himalayan Trust estimates the damage in Thame to be the equivalent of around 60,000 euros – at least. If you would like to help, you can donate to the German section of the Himalayan Trust. Here are the bank details:
Sir-Edmund-Hillary-Stiftung Deutschland e.V.
Kreissparkasse Miesbach-Tegernsee
IBAN: DE76 7115 2570 0620 6210 11
BIC/SWIFT-Code: BYLADEM1MIB
Intended purpose: Thame flood
Many thanks in advance. You are helping the children from Thame.🙏
