“Ke garne! We carry on!” says Dawa Steven Sherpa

Dawa Steven Sherpa has scaled Everest twice, has walked the Great Himalaya Trail (East to West of Nepal through the mountains) and runs an expedition company, Asian Trekking, along with his Father Ang Tshering Sherpa. Stefan Nestler interviewed him to find out how the combination of events, avalanches on Everest, bad climbing seasons and the earthquake have affected the mountaineering business and the Sherpa people, whose lives depend a lot on tourism in the Everest Region.

When asked if he is optimistic that Nepal will rise on its feet again, his answer outlines the Nepali psyche, and a reason why people should come to nepal NOW and meet these amazing people,

“Yes, sooner or later, because the Nepali people have a very different attitude than I think most of the people in the world. They never expected the government to help. They built the houses, that were destroyed now, with their own hands and they will rebuild them with their own hands again. The government may come and help a little bit as well as some international organizations will do but the majority of houses throughout Nepal will be rebuilt by the people themselves.

The Nepali people are really pragmatic. They are always smiling, they look at the brighter side of any situation. In western world everything is planned and precise, in Nepal things don’t work this way. There people shrug their shoulders and say: “Ke garni!” That’s how it is, what to do? This “Ke garni!”-attitude has become quite important after the quake because people don’t sit there talking: “Everything that I built has now gone, bla, bla, bla.” They just say: “What to do? This is life. We carry on!”

Read the full interview here in English