Dawa’s Story: A Life of Service

Dawa’s story is a real life of service to others. Myself and Laura can attest to that!

I was born in the remote village of Goli Khapte, in Nepal. My mother gave birth to seven children, but only four of us survived. I was the youngest.

Life in our village was incredibly simple and incredibly hard. There were no roads, no electricity, no running water and no transport. My birth was never officially registered because everything happened within the village, far from any government office. When I was very young, my father died, leaving my mother to raise four children on her own.

Subsistence Farming is a way of Life in Nepal

We survived through subsistence farming. We grew the food we needed, bartered what little we had left over, and cared for cows and goats. Every day was filled with work. As a child, I collected water, gathered firewood, cut fodder for the animals and helped wherever I could.

School was never part of my childhood. I tried to attend once, but my mother needed my help at home, so I returned to looking after the livestock.

When I was just eleven years old, I realised that if my life was ever going to change, I would have to leave the village.

A friend and I decided to run away to Kathmandu

The journey took six days on foot. We carried only barley flour and ghee, rolling them into small balls for food. When the ghee ran out, we simply swallowed the dry flour with water. We had no money, so each night we slept beneath peepal trees. Looking back, it was a difficult journey, but as boys we also saw it as an adventure. We laughed, played and ran along the trails, not knowing what awaited us.

When we finally reached Kathmandu, I found work in a small local restaurant. After three months, someone came in looking for young men to work as trekking porters.

That single conversation changed the course of my life

At just eleven years old, I began my career in the mountains as a porter. Over the years I worked my way through every role, kitchen assistant, cook, guide and eventually became a registered trekking guide, leading expeditions throughout Nepal. For more than forty years, the mountains have been my workplace, my classroom and my home.

In 2007, while leading a trek, I met the woman who would become my wife. We married two years later.

Together we often returned to visit my family in Goli. During one visit we noticed many people, particularly women and older villagers, suffering from severe breathing problems. Their homes were filled with smoke from cooking over open fires inside small, poorly ventilated rooms. The smoke blackened the walls, damaged their lungs and affected every aspect of daily life.

We knew something had to change

Back in Kathmandu we spoke with friends who helped us find organisations that could support cleaner cooking solutions. We began raising money ourselves and installing improved wood-burning stoves throughout the village. It was a small beginning, but it showed us what was possible when people worked together.

Around this time I met Ian Taylor, and our partnership would go on to change many more lives.

Since then, I have proudly worked with Ian Taylor Trekking, guiding people through the Himalayas while also helping create opportunities for the communities I have always called home.

Following the devastating 2015 earthquake, trekkers and supporters from around the world came together to help rebuild Nepal. Their generosity enabled us to build a new school in Goli, and I later established the Goli Village Trust to continue this work. Since then, with the support of Ian Taylor Trekking clients and the Ian Taylor Trekking Foundation, three more schools have been built, giving hundreds of children access to education that I never had.

Today, life in Goli is changing

Families now have cleaner cooking facilities, better access to drinking water, electricity, roads and communication. Medical care, education and transport are far more accessible than they were during my childhood.

There are still many challenges. Ironically, better opportunities also mean that many young people leave the village to build lives elsewhere. But I remain hopeful.

Every improvement we have made has been possible because people from around the world have chosen to help. Every trek has become more than an adventure, it has become an opportunity to change lives.

I never imagined that the eleven-year-old boy who left home with nothing but barley flour and hope would one day help build schools in the village where he was born.

That is why I continue this work today

Not simply to give back to my own community, but to ensure that the next generation of children have opportunities that my generation could only dream of.

Together, through the Ian Taylor Trekking Foundation, we can continue building a brighter future for the people of rural Nepal, one school, one village and one family at a time.

If you are in Kathmandu stop by the Encore hotel, at the front of the building Dawa and Kay have a small store ‘Sherpa Gifts’. Buy something as a portion of profit goes back to Goli village to help continue the work Dawa has started.

Dawa’s Story: A Life of Service

For the thousands of people who have met Dawa, you know your life is better simply because you met him. Spend just ten minutes in his company and you’ll understand why. There is a quiet wisdom about him that is impossible to describe a humility, kindness and generosity that touches everyone he meets.

Over the past two decades, Dawa has been one of the greatest gifts in my life. Together we have trekked to Everest Base Camp, Annapurna, Goli, Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu, but the mountains are only part of the story. The greatest journey has been watching the lives he has transformed through his selfless service to others.

Laura and I talk about Dawa almost every day. His compassion, his laughter, his spirituality and his unwavering commitment to helping others continually inspire us.

He has helped build four schools that have given hundreds of children an education, installed more than 200 clean-burning stoves that have transformed the health of families, and is now leading efforts to build a medical facility in Goli so his community can access the healthcare they deserve.

In a world that often celebrates those who take, Dawa has spent his life giving. He has never sought recognition, praise or reward. Everything he does comes from a genuine desire to make life better for someone else. I have met remarkable people throughout my life, but I have never met anyone like Dawa, and I know I never will again. If there is one person who embodies the very best of humanity, it is Dawa Sherpa.

It is one of the greatest privileges of my life to call him my friend.