{"id":211196,"date":"2024-06-28T13:37:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T13:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/?p=211196"},"modified":"2025-08-29T18:00:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T18:00:46","slug":"return-to-everest-happily-connected-sherpas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/blog\/2024\/06\/return-to-everest-happily-connected-sherpas\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to Everest: Happily Connected Sherpas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In early May, I made my fourth visit in the past two years to the villages of Khunde and Khumjung in Nepal. At 3,800 meters above sea level, nestled beautifully in the Himalayas, the two villages host our Everest Community Network<\/a> (the highest in the world) and are home to over 1,000 happily connected Sherpas.<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sherpas have consistently impressed me on each trip with their eagerness, determination, and willingness to collaborate. Their active involvement in our efforts to connect them to the Internet\u2014from bringing a 10mbps wireless link to deploying an 8.3Kms, 300mbps fiber network\u2014has been truly inspiring. This community network now provides dedicated 6mbps Internet access to their homes and lodges for 500 Nepal Rupees per month.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this time, it was even more special!  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Our job was to deliver six days of technical training on computer and fiber networking to build the competence of these Sherpas so they can manage technical support and essential troubleshooting functions\u2014which is vital for the operational sustainability of this network.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, even when we boarded a twin otter plane from Kathmandu, I was skeptical about the reaction of this class of 17 Sherpas, including local school staff, young students, and even some of the trekking guides.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Students<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

But as always, these Sherpas stunned us with their attention, keenness, and desire to learn! From the first day to the last, they demonstrated excellent brainpower in understanding the networking concepts, cabling, fiber splicing, and device configurations. There was not a single day when we didn\u2019t extend our class timings to accommodate their demand for practice and further understanding.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also did a one-day field visit, taking the class around all the infrastructure bits of the whole network, from the backhaul and operations center to the distribution network and network client configuration. Seeing such interest from these Sherpas, who proved my earlier skepticism wrong, was a sheer joy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wouldn\u2019t be fair not to introduce some to you here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meet Sonam Sherpa, an electricity linesman in a rural municipality. He scored highest in theory and practical exams and stood first in the class. He is eager to learn more about Internet networks and volunteered to manage the Everest community network’s basic troubleshooting and technical support.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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These three 10th-grade girls, Tashi, Yangjum, and Pasang, highlighted the class work. They stepped up as a competitor to the boys and showed them a significant challenge regarding the best trainee. Pasang (on the right in the photo) did the fastest fiber splicing and was one of the three in class who achieved an acceptable range (<0.1 dB) of splice loss. She aims to keep practicing on the splicing machine we left for the network operations and seek more excellence in fiber splicing that she can apply when needed in a real network case.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Til Bahadur, the local school computer teacher, didn\u2019t miss a lecture and was super excited to learn about Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) and other aspects of fiber networking. He vows to transfer this knowledge to the school students and was the first to email me asking if he can get further training.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This group of seventeen inspired us and proved their attentiveness to learning new skills. Some may think their future is beyond being a porter, trekking, or climbing guide, and they will be encouraged to learn more and become networking technicians or engineers.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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The Importance of Partners and Community Coming Together<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This training wouldn\u2019t have been possible without excellent support from partners in Nepal, including the local Sherpas steering committee members that administer this community. The Nepal network operators group provided two experts who led the training in the Nepali language, and our local partner, Nepal Internet Foundation<\/a>, handled all arrangements and coordination.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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While the training ran well, we had a chance to organize some other work capturing the impact of the Internet on the people. I visited connected homes and lodges to meet local Sherpas and discuss the Internet. I wanted to see if this fiber connectivity has changed their lives over the past ten months and their overall impression of the network quality of service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Internet Means Opportunity<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At each home and lodge, I witnessed a smile and appreciation, expressing how the Internet translates into an opportunity for these indigenous people of the Himalayan region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met many people who have been impacted by the Internet in different ways: <\/p>\n\n\n\n