KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 25
The Wilderness Medical Society has received the Texas Society of Association Executives 2024 Association Impact Award for our organisation's work in supporting the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital in Nepal.
According to WMS, the award was presented to the society during a recent TSAE New Ideas Conference. This project began as a vision of the late Wongchhu Sherpa, who dedicated his life to giving back. After improving infrastructure and education in his community, his final wish was to bring better access to quality healthcare to the people of the Chyangba village and the Solukhumbu region of Nepal.
"The hospital grew out of a relationship between several past presidents of our organization and the late Wongchhu who lived in Nepal. He was an incredible man who ran a trekking company and dedicated himself to many public service projects. It was his dream to build a hospital in the lower Solukhumbu region, a community of about 30,000 people who often had to travel in harsh conditions up to six hours away to receive basic medical care. Through word of mouth, many of our members began to rally behind the cause, promising Wongchhu before his death to carry out the project to completion."
TMS said that the tireless efforts and generous donations from WMS past presidents Luanne Freer, Eric Johnson, the late Paul Auerbach, as well of hundreds of other WMS members and donors, translated Wongchhu's dream into a reality when the hospital was inaugurated on October 12, 2022. This hospital is not just a building; it's a beacon of hope and a lifeline for many in a region that previously lacked access to essential medical care.
Himalayan Yokpu Foundation, Lakpa Sherpa, Everest ER, Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal, Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island, MetroHealth, Musa Masala - Safe, healthy and culturally aware mountain travel, Central Indiana Community Foundation, the late Megan Rand, and countless others joined hands together to make the project possible, it said.
