The world was tilting upside down

Lhapka Sherpa spent two days and nights trying to reach his family in Nepal, but the devastating earthquake had knocked out power and telephone services.

He knew his mother visited the Boudhanath Stupa near her Kathmandu home every day to walk or meditate. The Buddhist religious monument and UNESCO world heritage site was damaged by the April 25 temblor that destroyed many other historical temples.

So the call from his mother late afternoon on April 27 brought him joy.

“It was one of the best phone calls I’ve ever received,” said Sherpa, a Golden resident for about 16 years who runs a landscaping company and is the founding owner of the Sherpa House, a Himalayan restaurant and cultural center in downtown Golden.

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook Nepal on April 25, leaving 11 districts of the small Asian country severely damaged and many others with a “significant loss of life and property,” the World Health Organization reported. An estimated 8 million people were affected, with a death toll of more than 5,000 people as of April 29.

Video footage of the damage “almost creates a depression,” Sherpa said, making it difficult to sleep at night and find motivation during the day.

Besides Kathmandu, where his parents live, Sherpa also has family in a small village called Lukla, which is the beginning point for all Mount Everest expeditions in the Himalayas.

Power returned to the city April 27, Sherpa said, but rural areas remained without communication.

Sherpa’s mother told him the immediate family is fine. However, his cousin’s brother died in the avalanche on Mount Everest, leaving a wife and two young daughters. A few other people Sherpa knew lost their lives, he said, including a friend in Kathmandu who died after an electrical pole fell on the taxi he was in during the earthquake.

Sherpa said his father told him he had never experienced anything like this in his 60 years.

“He said he thought the world was going to tilt upside down,” Sherpa said.

Aftershocks-some measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, according to the United States Geological Survey-caused even greater damaged.

“People are terrified to live inside their homes … all the houses are cracked and damaged,” Sherpa said. “So they’re trying to live outside of the house in the open space in a tent … with very limited supplies.”

Fundraising for relief efforts began shortly after the shock wore off, Sherpa said. Locally, people have approached him to ask how they can help.

“The wonderful people in Golden have shown a lot of interest in the people of Nepal,” he said, and people all over the world are reaching out to help the Nepalese people.

“Nepal is such a beautiful country,” Sherpa said, but “one of the poorest in the world.”

A politically unstable country, Nepal has few jobs, and education and infrastructure problems, Sherpa said. Because of that, he said, the country needs not only immediate relief for earthquake victims, but also long-term sustainable help.

But despite the devastation and suffering, the Nepalese people, known for being caring and hospitable, have strength and endurance, Sherpa said.

“At the end of the day, they have a smile on their face,” he said. “They will honor you with the best mattress they have, or (offer) you the best cup of tea they have.”

 

 

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