“On a Mish” #433 The Day Sagarmatha Shook (Part Three). Lukla / Kathmandu, Nepal. 1.5.2015. After years of wanting to visit Nepal I finally got there due to an earthquake. It took a disaster to drag me away from the comforts of New Zealand into a land I would fall in love with and return to many times. The day Sagarmatha shook was the day fate decided it was time to visit a country I had wanted to go to for a very long time…
The days we spent on the trail and then at Gurdel Village seemed like a blur as we readied ourselves to take off from ‘the world most dangerous airport’. After the traditional weather delay our legendary Nepali team leader got us to the front of the queue, and then on board an aeroplane bound for Kathmandu. Our gratitude to Arjun for his tireless hard work disappeared temporarily as the plane prepared to take off from one of the shortest runways (527m) on earth!
After the noise of the engines came the rush of the plane plummeting down the steep runway towards the cliff at its end. With an almighty woosh we took to the skies while one of our team’s seats broke away from its mounts. She was following the instruction to stay in her seat with her seatbelt fastened, however the seat was no longer attached to the plane. Just another day in the wild skies above Nepal!
After returning to Kathmandu, we celebrated our mission and what was achieved by a group of strangers who were now all part of the Active Hearts Foundation Whanau. It was a bittersweet ending as reality was waiting for us beyond Kathmandu Airport, and with so much more still left to do none of us wanted to leave.
Luckily it would be only just over a year later that I would return to go on another adventure with the Active Hearts Foundation Whanau, and from here my trips to Nepal would become a yearly event (except of course for the Covid years). It has been heartwarming to watch the country rebuild itself bigger and better than before, and to be part of the education and growth of the children’s lives is about as rewarding as it can get. The people are the reason I keep coming back, with the incredible scenery being an excellent addition to what is always a very rewarding experience.
Over the years since the quake the charity work has continued, and the list of Active Hearts assets has increased. What started as a small library in a school close to where Arjun grew up has now become a net work of Libraries with librarians trained and then employed to help with the running of each. Truly amazing work done by both overseas sponsors and the people of Nepal themselves.
As I write this there are only a few months to go before I return to Nepal again with Dan to see Arjun and the team, and to keep the continual connection between the ‘Hearts’ and the people alive. The day Sagarmatha shook was what got me from New Zealand to Nepal, and it is going to take much more than an earthquake to prevent me from going back as often as I can. Thank you and NAMASTE Nepal for all you have done for me, and I am so happy to see how much you have bounced back since that terrible day in April 2015…
