National Geographic: Return To Everest Page #3

---

that one day would draw him like

an inescapable challenge.

With deepening regard for

the warmhearted Sherpas,

the Hillarys eagerly lent

a hand wherever needed,

opened the door to a culture

distant from their own origins.

On a mountainside at Thami

not far from the Tibetan border,

they helped build a supporting

wall for a Buddhist monastery.

Its new leader was

a 12-year-old boy,

believed to be the reincarnation

of a previous head lama or rimpoche.

"When I first went to the Himalayas,

my major interest really was

in climbing mountains.

I got to know the local people,

the Sherpas,

and enjoyed them very much.

And by spending time in the villages,

it became impossible for me

not to realize that

there were so many things lacking.

So many things that we took for

granted in our society,

they simply didn't have.

And because I was very fond

of my Sherpa friends,

I had this sort of nagging

worry all the time

shouldn't we be trying to

do something

about the future of the Sherpas?

And to help them to

withstand the changes

that were likely to take place?"

Around Hillary, often watching,

were the beautiful Sherpa children

open, quick to laugh,

endlessly inventive in play.

Yet untaught, their innocence

one day could become a prison.

In all of the Khumbu there was

not a school to help them grow.

He would always remember

the words of a village leader:

"Our children have eyes,

but they are blind."

"And it was then at

that particular occasion

that I decided that

instead of sort

of thinking about it for years

and talking about it,

maybe I should try and

do something about it."

Abruptly, Sir Edmund Hillary

became a part-time carpenter.

Drawing help from contributors in

New Zealand and the United States,

he formed the Himalayan Trust

to support the program.

Today, still building after

more than two decades,

he has completed and staffed

no fewer than 22 schools

across the Khumbu.

"We have a good,

experienced team to do the job.

My brother, Rex, is a builder

by trade back in New Zealand.

And he's come over here quite a few

times to help on these projects.

But without Mingma's organization

and authority amongst the Sherpas,

I could have done nothing."

The patterns of construction

have changed little

since the building

of the first school in 1961.

Some children help

some children watch

some children imitate.

For some,

classes have already begun.

"...has entered."

"He has entered."

"His house."

"His house."

"The men are climbing the mountain."

"The men are climbing the mountain."

"The mountain."

"The mountain."

"The mountain."

"The mountain."

"The men have climbed the mountain."

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes