In 2014, my brother, father and I had trekked to Everest Base camp. Our family was led by Kalu Tamang, a Nepalese trekking guide, and supported by two tireless porters. During our trip, Kalu was a consistent caring and compassionate friend and leader. When my brother became sick with food poisoning, Kalu stayed up throughout the night, carried my brother through a storm to the hospital and knocked on every door until he found a nurse.

We’ve stayed in touch with Kalu over the years touching base a few times each year. In 2015, the Gorkha earthquake devastated Nepal. Many people had perished and much infrastructure was compromised. Kalu provided bare-necessity emergency relief out of his own pocket to help support villagers rendered homeless by the earthquake.  He additionally donated his - and his porters’ and guides’ - time, to individuals who contributed to his relief efforts. My family donated funds to the Gorkha relief effort and Kalu rewarded us with photos showing the supplies he was able to purchase with our donation.  Despite having a family of his own to care for, Kalu repeatedly looks to take care of others, whether it be his customers, his porters and guides or his fellow Nepalese citizens.

Once again, Kalu is working to help others out.  Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, Kalu's business is dry, and he has been unable to work for eight months.  Mountain porters and guides are lucky to secure odd jobs doing backbreaking work so that they can scrape together enough money to put food on the table. 

This fundraiser is devoted to helping trekking guides and porters get through the difficult time that they are currently facing.  My father will send the funds to Kalu, and Kalu will distribute supplies and funds to porters and guides (both his own and those who worked for other companies) in order to help them survive the current pandemic.



A letter from Kalu: 

Namaste my dear friends
 
Firstly, I sincerely hope that you and your families are all fine and staying safe during this difficult situation. The Covid-19 pandemic has swept the world and impacted lives in ways we cannot imagine. Many have lost their lives, loved ones, jobs, businesses, and after many months, this world crisis still has no end in sight. Things might not be rosy, but I'm thankful to be in good health and being able to write to all of you around the world. 
 
Since you last visited Nepal, we have been proudly welcoming tourists and trekkers to our beautiful Himalayan mountains. Things were going well until early this year, when the unseen Covid-19 virus put an immediate stop to everything. Businesses all-round were affected but the tourism industry suffered the most. From brisk business to zero customers for the last 8 months, thousands of tourism workers remain jobless and struggling to make ends meet. 
 
As a tourism operator, I feel responsible and saddened by the plight of my trekking crew. As strong and dependable as they were while trekking with you during your trips, your guides and porters are now helpless and dreading how to feed their families. To name a few, Dawa, Lal Kaji, Phura, Roshan, Biren, Lawang, Ratna, Phul Kumar, Kaji Kumar, Rikyal, Surya and many more porters. For the last few months, they have been scrambling for any odd jobs in cities, towns and villages just to earn whatever little money to sustain themselves. Carrying rocks, hard-labour construction, agricultural work - in a land of scarcity in Nepal, job seekers way outnumber the jobs available, painting a bleak situation for many. 
 
The Nepal government recently announced that international flights and tourism can resume from 17th August onwards. But with daily increasing Covid-19 cases in the country, this move is more symbolic rather than a realistic one. Symbolic to allow businesses to run as per usual, but realistically hardly any tourist will visit until the global situation stabilises. If things become worse, another lockdown is imminent. 
 
With a very uncertain future ahead, I'm nevertheless thankful to have great friends all around. A few of our past trekking clients have voiced concern and asked me if there's anything they can help to support our trek business and crew. I was initially hesitant to reach out to seek help as I'm well aware that everyone is facing their own difficulties during these challenging times. But I can no longer close my eyes to the struggles of my crew, who have been desperately asking me when will trekking resume and when can they have a job.

As such, I am setting up a Trekking Crew Charity Donation Fund for anyone who would like to contribute to help our trekking guides and porters get through this difficult period. All donations collected will be distributed to our crew to support them and their families buy daily food and essential items. Writing to you as a friend, I humbly request for your kind support. Every little donation when pooled together, can help light up a family's kitchen stove and put food on their table.