Our Story

Musa Masala is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization creating an internationally adventurous outdoor community focused on safe, healthy and culturally aware outdoor activities while prioritizing projects for healthcare and education in Nepal.

Our Origins

Musa Masala originally started as a book, the proceeds of which would help fund a hospital for people of the lower Khumbu Valley in Nepal.

Since the first conversations in Pheriche on our way to Mt. Everest Base Camp, the Musa team has taken to heart the ideas of the late Wongchhu Sherpa, including this: Take your blessings and good works and bring them to people and places that have helped you in your success.

The Musa team has watched the hospital go from an idea to a three-building hospital compound that is serving a population of over 30,000. This has been a monumental effort.

We would like to introduce you to those involved and show you a timeline of its construction.

Prefab buildings with blue roofs and water tanks, set against a mountainous backdrop
Two white buildings with dark roofs on a dirt road, set against a mountainous backdrop.
A hospital building with a blue roof displaying the text 'Rinchen Sherpa Memorial Hospital, Tapting' in large white letters. Colorful prayer flags are strung across the area, and a statue is situated in front of the building. The background features rolling hills and fluffy clouds under a blue sky.

The hospital has an emergency room, an OB/GYN suite, an inpatient care floor, living quarters for the staff, and a pharmacy building that hosts visiting eye doctors, dentists, and rotating specialists.

Drs. Paul Auerbach, Luanne Freer and Eric Johnson, with the Wilderness Medical Society, created the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital fund. The steering committee also includes Drs. Arthur Islas and Robert Quinn.

The official opening of the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital was on October 4th, 2020.

Two people peek from unfinished concrete walls in a building under construction. Rebars extend vertically from the tops of the walls. The background shows mountains and a clear sky.
Group of people standing in front of an unfinished building, wearing casual and outdoor clothing, some with scarves.
Red rectangular tin with 'Musa Masala' logo in gold, set on an orange fabric background.

Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya

Follows the story of a Sherpa orphan girl who discovers adventure while trekking to Everest Base Camp, making friends and finding her purpose along the way. With vibrant illustrations of the Himalayas, our book proceeds support the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital in Nepal's SoluKumbu region.