Blog
Here you’ll find our blog posts, listed by main category. To receive posts by email as they appear, sign up for updates on the homepage!
A Puja for our Friends we Lost
In late April of 2022 the Musa Masala team came together to celebrate the incredible lives of our friends who were involved in the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital project who so sadly and too early left this world. They all devoted their lives to helping others and strove to make the world that much better for us all — and they never got to see the finished hospital open.
We planned a puja ceremony to honor their memory and our love for them. It has taken a while but here is the video of the ceremony, filmed with permission of the monks at the Khamding Monastery in Nepal.
Hospital Opening in Nepal! Celebrating Wongchhu Sherpa's Dream
On October 12th, 2022, the dream of the late Wongchhu Sherpa, to provide a hospital for his home village, came true. Musa Masala is excited to share the details of the day with you.
The difficulties the local population had in seeking proper care before the hospital was built became a present day reality when poor weather made getting to the opening ceremony difficult to impossible!
Lots of too-late monsoon rain kept Dr. Luanne Freer, one of the driving forces behind the project, stranded in Lukla, along with the entire Wilderness Medical Society trek team. Pem Dorjee Sherpa of Imperial Expeditions and the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation was also stuck…
The Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Tapting - Update!
We are so proud to present the latest from the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital. This film was shot and edited by the incredible Yaman Shakya and Bibek Bartaula. (They are also awesome singers.) It gives a great overview of the story behind the hospitals founding and comes right up to our visit to paint the pediatric room.
We hope it gives you all some perspective on what has been accomplished by the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation to open the hospital from just an idea on a hill in 2016.
Ultrasound now at the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital!
Here is a short film of a real journey: members of the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation bringing the new Ultrasound Machine to the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital, traveling by four-wheel drive in rain-soaked road conditions.
Big thanks to Sonam Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa and Phula Sherpa, who delivered this much needed diagnostic tool. Sakar Shrestha filmed this piece in his beautiful style.
Everest: Who Takes the Trash Out?
We are back with a new show! Want to know about who is out there making effort to clean up the park and mountain? Want to know a little history of the cleanup operations over the years? Did you know there have been active clean up efforts going on for awhile on Mt. Everest? Want some firsthand accounts of the situation at the high camps this season?
A New Short Film: The Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital
Since Musa Masala started in the summer of 2016, we have been fundraising for the construction of the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital in Khamding, Solukhumbu, Nepal. We have seen and camped on the land the hospital was to be built on, saw the buildings come up this past November and made a video to help promote the progress that had been made. Now there is a new short film, created by Lakpa Sherpa and the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation. This film, shot and produced by Sakar Shrestha, is a beautiful production.
Ama Dablam, Olga and Cyclone Fani!
Of all the exploits and climbing efforts in the spring 2019 season, we at Musa Masala feel pretty strongly that one of the most outstanding accomplishments belongs to our friend and fellow Musa, Dr. Olga Dobranowski. Olga just completed a solo, rapid ascent of beautiful and mesmerizing Mt. Ama Dablam. If you have been anywhere around this mountain, it will become your favorite. It holds you and you will never forget seeing it.
Our Promo on the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Premieres
It was Nepal Night at the Wilderness Medical Society’s winter conference in Park City, Utah. The team that put it together, Jenevieve Suzanne Kincaid, Paul Queior and Tony Islas, did an amazing job.
Tony was up on stage introducing the speakers and told stories about how he became involved with Wilderness Medicine, his friendship with Wongchhu Sherpa and his commitment to the hospital. Fellow speakers, Luanne Freer, Eric Johnson and Paul Auerbach passionately spoke of how Wongchhu influenced their lives and the importance of doing good works.
Our Musa Masala Kickstarter is LIVE!
Today we started our Kickstarter campaign for Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya!
Our reason for the Kickstarter is simple: to raise the funds needed to create our book and bring it to the public. Costs for the magic it takes to print and promote a book of this nature are considerable and once they are met through the Kickstarter, all proceeds will go directly to the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Fund. In other words, we need to raise this money to make that support happen.
Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Update
Let’s take a look at the progress on the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital! We will do a bigger update when we return from Nepal at the end of November.
We have some great photos to share that show the progress on the construction of the Wongcchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital! Lakpa Sherpa, Director of the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation, the non-profit organization coordinating the project, recently returned from the site and sent us this update.
Book Trailer: "Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya"
Introducing Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya! Musa is here and we have created this short slide show to preview the first part of the book to you. In the coming weeks we will launch a Kickstarter campaign to cover the cost of production, printing, legal fees, advertising and the pre-launch events in Kathmandu and Namche Bazaar.Once these fees are covered, the remaining money from each book will go to the nonprofit fund for the Wonghhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital in Solukhumbu, Nepal.
Musa Masala Goes to Breckenridge: The 2017 WMS Conference
Dr. Jennifer Konokpa sent us this post about the Summer WMS conference, where Musa Masala had a fundraising table for the Wongchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital. We had a very successful time helping the fund, and we had fun. One of the highlights for us was hearing Luis Benitez, an inspiring Everest summitter, speak. We made sure he got a Musa shirt for his fine effort!
The Wongchu Sherpa Trust Girls Hostel Project #BOAW2017
In Nepal, girls are in the back of the line when it comes to education. Often because girls are sent off in arranged marriages at a young age parents do not consider it financially sensible to send their daughters to school when they will leave the home during their teenage years. So they work at home until marriage. This creates a society of women who are unable to move forward and who do not see the opportunities education can give them.
The 1-Year Anniversary of Wongchu Sherpa's Passing
In Sherpa culture one year after the passing of a loved one a Gongjo puja is organized. In memory of my late father Wongchu Sherpa we will have a ceremony every December 30th for the next three years. We have started a national level volleyball competition to be held at this time as well. For the first year we organized a local tournament. Next year we will expand to a district level and in three years to a national level competition.
Chyangba Village Trek: WMS Goes to the Hospital
This past November, members of the Wilderness Medical Society, led by Dr. Eric Johnson and Dr. Luanne Freer, trekked to the site of the Wongchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital, which will be built in Khamding, Solu Khumbu, Nepal.
Remembering Wongchu Sherpa: My Father's Dream
Every father has their own dream for their children, but my father’s dreams were especially unique. My father, the late Mr. Wongchhu Sherpa, was born in a remote area of the Everest region, Tapting-1, Chyangba Village. He breathed his last breath at age 48 in December, 2015.
He was not only my father, but with the way he helped others, many saw him as their own godfather. Because his ideas were dynamic and progressive, he became iconic.
Musa Masala Goes to Telluride: WMS Conference 2016
“We are not a tree, we are not meant to be in one place so Move. Change. Travel.” — unknown
I began to love traveling and to enjoy my profession more after I heard that famous quote. It is true, we are not meant to be in the same place for a lifetime. We're given life to make a difference, to experience the world, to meet new people and to help people!
Here are seven reasons you should travel to Nepal, to really enhance your life.
An Interview with Chhiri Sherpa
Hi friends! Watch this awesome short on the Weatherport tent that was donated to Everest ER this season. It's narrated by Dr. Natasha Burley, one of three doctors who staffed the tent this 2016 season. Dr. Burley is an anesthesiologist from Scotland, a fine voiceover artist and an up-and-coming star in the high altitude football circuit. Beautiful filming gives a great feel for the environment at Mount Everest basecamp!