Last Thursday, July 17th, members were treated to a wonderful talk by Past Rotary International Director, Jessie Harman telling of her recent trip to Everest base camp to raise funds for Polio eradication. In setting the scene, Jessie reflected that the challenge was one of the hardest she had ever faced, and it was only thoughts of the generous donors who had contributed to her cause that kept her going. The trek also exposed her to the coldest conditions she had every experienced in her life, but it was worth it. See more pix and read about Jessie's 5 take away messages from her trip by clicking “Read more…”
Jessie had 5 take away messages from her trek:
- The trek is the hardest thing she had ever done. It was all uphill and even though she had trained for the journey, by the second day she felt like giving up.
- The value of patience.
- The value of teamwork. It was only with the assistance of the guides and Sherpa porters that she and her fellow trekkers were able to complete the quest.
- The value of oxygen. Half of the 14 participants in her trek were at various stages air lifted off the mountains and taken to a medical facility because of oxygen deficit or poisoning.
- The region is breathtakingly beautiful. On many parts of her trek, Jessie was surrounded 360 degrees by 8000 metre mountains. She passed by 5 beautiful lakes recorded as the highest lakes in the world.