Nepal

Khiraule: The Trail

In November 2014 a group of us will be trekking to Khiraule to visit the village school that has been supported by Rotary.

You can see our itinerary and follow our progress by clicking on:

The Trail

Another reason for the trek is to raise money to help alleviate the problems caused by the recent major flooding disaster in Nepal which has caused significant loss of life and the destruction of many homes.

Please revisit these pages often during the course of our trek as I hope to be reporting on our experiences on the way and the situation in Khiraule.

If you would like to help alleviate the human tragedy caused by the recent flooding disaster please visit MyDonate website

Philip Hoyle
October 2014

To find out more about
the Khiraule Education
and Healthcare Project,
visit their web page by clicking on Khiraule.

For background on
Rotary's involvement with Nepal click on the Lancaster Guardian
article above.

Khiraule: The Tale

Khiraule is a village in a remote part of Nepal. Although in the Everest region, it is well away from the well-trodden tourist trail. However for me it is a place of considerable significance, having been deeply involved with a major project in Rotary to raise funds to transform the village school.

The old school

Through various grants and donations, work is being carried out to:

effect much-needed water purification and sanitation improvements,
provide walls to keep water buffalo from fouling the playground,
build a new classroom block,
install power and digital teaching equipment and
provide books and teaching aids.

The new school

The plan is for the entire development programme to have been completed by the time I visit Khiraule in November. I will be trekking there with a party that includes other Rotarians in order to see the village. Our intention is to inspect the work to ensure that the money raised has been spent properly. I will also be using the experience to raise further funds to alleviate the problems caused by the recent major flooding disaster in Nepal which has caused significant loss of life and the destruction of many homes.

Nepal is the fifth poorest country in the world and as a result it has very limited resources with which to support villages like Khiraule that are situated in extremely remote areas with poor communications, being long distances from more populous centres. Consequently, access to facilities for Education and Healthcare is tremendously limited and difficult.

There are approximately 400 people in Khiraule and 90 children attending the school. The Rotary Club of Kendal together with other clubs in North West England have raised significant funds and grants to enable the school’s major redevelopment project to take place.

Khiraule pupils

The villagers are primarily Sherpa, an ethnic group who are Buddhists with an ancient rich culture originating in Tibet. They live off the land and have very little (if any) money. People live in extended families in their own stone built farm houses with their land surrounding it on which they graze their animals (water buffalo, chickens, and goats).

Khiraule village covers a huge area of land and is at an elevation of 7,000 feet. It is surrounded by Himalayan mountains and valleys with a deep gorge river running by the side of the village. There are panoramic views in every direction. The stone farm houses are spread out across the valley of Khiraule. There are approximately 45 houses. There are no roads, the nearest one is over ten days walk away. Until recently there was there is no electricity in Khiraule. All food is cooked on open wooden fires. Water is from the glacier river which some have piped to their homes through black rubber piping using gravity.

Our trek will be led by Lhakpa Sherpa, a native of Khiraule, who is now resident for part of each year, with his wife Pat, in the village of Barbon, not very far from Kendal. The trekkers will be a group of eleven including my son Christian and son-in-law Mark.

We have been liaising about the project with Ashok Shrestha of the Rotary Club of Dhulike whom we will be meeting during our visit to Nepal. I have been moved by an appeal from Ashok and would like to help the great efforts being made by Rotarians in Nepal to alleviate the human tragedy caused by the recent flooding disaster.

If you would like to help alleviate the human tragedy caused by the recent flooding disaster please visit MyDonate website