Scots charity helps tragic families of earthquake victims

A SCOTTISH charity is seeing its vision of a revolutionary quake-proof building for tragic Sherpa families in Nepal come to fruition.
Little Sherpa Foundation founder James Lamb. Picture: ContributedLittle Sherpa Foundation founder James Lamb. Picture: Contributed
Little Sherpa Foundation founder James Lamb. Picture: Contributed

Mountaineer and former Fife teacher James Lamb set up the Little Sherpa Foundation following two two devastating earthquakes in the Himalayan region.

The philanthropic organisation works to transform the lives of poor and vulnerable children whose parents lose their lives whilst working as Sherpas. They managed to bring on board famous architect Murray Kerr, of Denizen Works, winner of Grand Designs Architect of the Year Award, to help construct the building.

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Many communities received no official help, including the families of 16 Sherpas who died. Construction work has now begun on the Teahouse in Phortse, a farming village located at an altitude of 3840m in the Khumbu Valley in Nepal. Like much of Nepal, Phortse was affected by the major earthquake that devastated the region in April 2015.

Denizen Works were approached to design a building that would be easy to construct using local materials and withstand future earthquakes.

The Teahouse provides cellular sleeping quarters, a dining hall, kitchen, showers, office and a meditation centre to serve the local community and trekkers scaling Mount Everest.

Murray Kerr said: “The proposed buildings seek to reinterpret recognisable forms and materials into a contemporary architectural language to complement the setting. By separating the main programmatic functions into distinct blocks, we have created a transferable concept that can be adapted to other sites in the region.”

Tim Lucas, of civil engineers Price and Myers, added: “The challenge for the structure was to find a way of helping enable an architecturally interesting form in a very remote area that must also resist seismic loading and be built with relatively low tech methods. Our approach involves using a simple eccentrically braced timber frame for the accommodation building.”

James Lamb said: “Nepal was devastated by massive earthquakes in 2015, destroying many buildings and killing nearly 9,000 people. The rebuilding of homes was an obvious priority but in the clamour to complete work before winter arrived everyone resorted to a quick fix approach, which was very understandable in the circumstances.

“I was in the fortunate position to take a more considered approach and wondered if it was possible to build an earthquake-resistant and eco-friendly building local people could afford. By sheer coincidence I saw Murray Kerr on Grand Designs and I contacted him about my proposal. Immediately he was enthused by the idea and started researching the concept.

“Our hope was to produce an inspirational building for locals and tourists alike which will also demonstrate to local builders an alternative style of building in this area. I believe this is exactly what Denizen Works have achieved and as far as I know this will be the first of its kind in the Nepal Himalayas.

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Phortse sits on a southwest-facing slope in Sagarmatha National Park and is characterised by tiered plots enclosed by stone walls.”

A total of 16 Sherpas were killed, leaving their wives and 54 children with no income and having to fend for themselves.

James met with Tashi Lama and they decided to set up a charity to aid those left behind. He said: “If it weren’t for the Sherpas then mountaineers like us would not be able to go up the mountains. We needed to get vital resources out to them.”

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