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OCTOBER 2004

Sir Edmund Hillary Brings Schools  to His Beloved Himalayas
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.

Living quietly and making his way in the family beekeeping business in Auckland, New Zealand, but his brain always abuzz with thoughts about adventure, young Edmund Hillary could only dream of heroic conquests, but that was just fine for him, he recalled years later. A relatively solitary life given over to reading, walking and reflection was actually the spark that ignited his involvement in mountain climbing—not a bad model for today’s youngsters so many of whom feel noisy peer pressure to make a life defined only by money. Young Hillary saw achievement through books, while an older Sir Edmund saw the fruits of fame as service to humanity.

In terms so modest as to seem unreal, Sir Edmund Hillary celebrates a childhood of reading and learning to be alone with himself. Admittedly, he had then few friends. He went to a big city high school far from his home, which necessitated traveling four hours a day by train. “I used to get a book out of the library every day, so I was reading a book a day for quite a number of years.” Where others cite influences of teachers or family, Hillary cites books. Most of them, he says, had an “adventurous slant,” stimulating romantic fantasies of taking on heroic tasks, saving women in distress. A school party to a national park 250 miles outside Auckland, however, was a turning point. “It was the middle of winter and there was snow everywhere” and huge volcanic mountains. An inveterate walker, he went mad for skiing and for hiking hills in ice and snow. And, perhaps because of his love for reading, Hillary also developed a certain flair for telling, at times embellishing, tales about these mountaineering adventures. His parents, he believes, certainly saw in his narratives a growing enthusiasm that could not be met by beekeeping, and became supportive of his love of the outdoors and adventure. But—significant for so many youngsters today who feel pressured early on to say what they want to be or to declare majors, young Edmund “was never one of those people who, at an early age, had picked an objective and worked steadily towards it.” “I was just an average bloke.” He makes it sound as if his mountaineering was incidental, the result of hard work, imagination, and determination to do what he loved.

The rest, as they say, is history: the phenomenal achievement that had defeated so many, was his on May 29, 1953: the conquest of Mount Everest, the highest point on earth, at the age of 33, with his Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay. What is just as extraordinary, however, is what Sir Edmund has done over the years with his achievement. Now 85, and the inspiration for any number of explorers and writers (including Jon Krakauer, of Into Thin Air, about the Everest tragedy of 1996 who said “Quite simply, Edmund Hillary shaped the course of my life”), Sir Edmund Hillary has gone on to be one of the most influential—and modest—heroes of humanitarian endeavors, establishing in 1960 the Himalayan Trust that devotes itself to improving the lives of the people of Nepal by way of providing essential services and world recognition for the Sherpa culture, including restoration of central sacred sites and building of schools. These efforts have not only endeared him to the Sherpa people but to Americans who, in honor of his work have followed his lead, naming him Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation. The work of these joint nonprofits “to improve the ecology and living conditions in the Himalayas” has meant more essential services in the area’s poorest regions—not just over 30 new schools, but teacher training programs, adult literacy classes, scholarships, two hospitals (Kunde and Paphlu) and 11 village clinics. In addition, over one 1 million trees have been planted, bridges built and microhydro plants installed.

“As long as you don’t “believe all that rubbish about yourself, Sir Edmund has said, “you won’t come to much harm.” Along the way, he has acquired a hero—the great Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton—for reasons that have significant resonance for everyone. For Hillary, Shackleton was a great leader because he was “prepared to make a decision and change his mind quickly,” a man who never mistook ideas for ideology, a man of alternatives, a man who listened to the suggestions of others. Indeed, this attitude seems like an Everest of its own.#

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