Sir Edmund Percival Hillary 1919-2008, New Zealand mountain climber and explorer. He went on many mountain-climbing expeditions before 1953, when he and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal were the first people to reach the summit of Mt. Everest .
Sir Hillary’s family members include spouse, three children, and six grandchildren. After the historical ascent of Mount Everest on 29th May 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary has spent the rest of his life in uplifting the life of the remote mountain people of the Solu Khumbu district in Nepal through his works with the Himalayan Trust. Sir Edmund Hillary established a close friendship with the Sherpa people of the in the Mount Everest region through his link with mountaineering activities in the early 60s. However, he saw that there were lots of things lacking in the area. There was no school, no medical care, and he wanted to help the people there. On one occasion, when Sir Hillary and a group of Sherpas were crossing the pass of Tashi Lapcha, between the Rolwaling Valley and Khumbu Valley, they had to spend one night in a rock cave around a little fire amid friendly discussions. Sir
Hillary asked one of his friends, Urken Sherpa, “What would be the best thing to do for the Sherpa people if I could of help?” Without waiting Urken said, “Our children have eyes but they cannot see because of illiteracy, and therefore, we need a school in the village of Khumjung” (the largest Sherpa village in the region). Sir Hillary raised the funds and the first school came up in Khumjung in 1960. Since then, Sir Hillary has been involved in a number of development projects in the district. He has established the Himalayan Trust through which health ad education projects are implemented. Today, there are more than 26 schools and one college founded by the Himalayan Trust. The government administers these schools.
The Trust also provides scholarships to bright students eager to pursue their higher studies in the fields of education, health, forestry, medicine, and other vocational areas in any part of the country but these scholarships are limited to the students from the Solu Khumbu district. In the health sector, the Himalayan Trust has built two hospitals – one in the village of Kunde in Khumjung VDC set up in 1966 and another in 1975 at Phaplu
village near the district headquarters. Khunde Hospital is run entirely by the Trust with volunteer doctors from abroad, and a local staff, and provides free medical services to all the Nepalese arriving for medical care. The Phaplu Hospital was handed over to the government in 1983 and is now the district hospital. Besides these two hospitals, there are dozens of village health clinics managed by the Trust, which provides primary medical care and other services such as family planning, safe motherhood, vaccinations etc. Today, Sir Hillary is known in the world more for his humanitarian works than his conquest of Mount Everest and has received great admiration for the works he has done in Nepal over more than half a century. The Volunteers of Himalayan Trust work in a number of areas in various regions of the country and often return with unforgettable memories and experiences. Sir Hillary says, “Volunteers who come to Nepal should have a pure objective to serve the people with specific goals. They should have a keen sense of respect for the local people, their culture, and their aspirations. The volunteers should not decide what the local people want but should respond to what they want and should try to become a part of the community.”