Everest Casualties: Supporting our Sherpa Families

The Imagine Nepal family along with the Nepal and international climbing community are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our young Sherpa brothers Dawa Tseri Sherpa, Pemba Tenzing Sherpa and Lakpa Rita Sherpa on April 12, 2023. Pemba Tenzing, Lakpa Rita and Dawa Tseri were the first of our team to reach Camp 2 where they dropped rope and were descending when ice fell and took their young lives in the Khumbu icefall.

Dawa Tseri Sherpa (Bahadure) started his climbing career in the 1990s and took a break of 9 years with consideration of his family’s concern for safety,. This year he started his climbing career back in order to earn money to send his 5 children to quality schools. From Thame, Dawa Tseri climbed Everest 9 times, Cho Oyu, Shishapangma. He walked from his home Tuesday morning and reached Everest base camp in the evening then chose to go Camp 2 on Wednesday to drop fixing ropes. The light of the family is gone and left the children to his wife without any income. Dawa is the father of 3 daughters of 21, 20 and 16 and 2 sons of age 16 and 9 years.

Pemba Tenzing Sherpa grew up in Tesho from where he began working as a porter. Pemba was light on our team; his smile lit our tents! Pemba summited Mount Everest first at age 21 bringing clients to the top of the world 7 times and went on to summit 9 more eight-thousanders including Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, K2, Broad Peak and Manaslu. Pemba is survived by his wife and infant daughter. The world has lost one of the strongest Sherpa mountaineers of our time.

Lakpa Rita Sherpa from Teso, Khumbhu was 22 years old and he father of Pasang Chhutin Sherpa 5 years and Mingma Lhamu Sherpa 9 months. Being the single son in the family, and father of two children, he choose to work on Expedition to earn for their better future and better future of his family.

We honour our brothers by supporting their families including the education of their children. To help us do so, we ask for your financial support through this Go Fund Me initiative to help provide quality schooling for each of the children of Dawa, Lakpa, and Pemba.

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Please note that Go Fund Me initiatives are unable to be initiated directly in Nepal. As such, I, Jill Wheatley part of the Imagine Nepal family with whom I have climbed and trained with Pemba, stayed in his family home and spent months together in the mountains, will collect the funds in Canadian dollars which will then be transferred to Imagine Nepal, in the care of our leader Mingma G. for distribution among the families of Dawa, Pemba and Lakpa.

Dereai Dhanyabaad (thank you very much)