Cup of Tea with Dr Kami Sherpa — The Beating Heart of Kunde Hospital
1 November 2025
Some moments on this trek stop you not for the mountains but for the people. Mine came in the small kitchen of Kunde Hospital, sharing tea with Dr Kami Sherpa — a man whose quiet humility carries Sir Edmund Hillary’s legacy.
I’d read about him before, but nothing prepares you for his warmth. Over steaming tea, he spoke softly, eyes kind, laughter easy.
Dr Kami began 40 years ago as a medical assistant at Kunde Hospital, working 13 years beside visiting doctors before earning a scholarship to study medicine in Fiji — “Very warm. Very hot. And sea level!” he joked. Returning home, he became the region’s doctor. For decades, people walked for days to reach this one hospital.
When Sir Ed Hillary and the Himalayan Trust built it in 1966, modern medicine was unknown. “Ninety-four percent had iodine deficiency,” he said. Through iodised salt and depot injections, that dropped to 21 percent by 1994. “That was a big change.”
Now the valley is changing too. “Young people study, go abroad. They don’t come back. We used to deliver 30 babies a year. Now maybe two.”
At 70, Dr Kami is retired in name only — “Retirement never sticks.”
As we finished our tea, he smiled: “Sir Ed gave us opportunity, education, good life.” Walking back toward Namche, I realised the true giants of this valley aren’t the peaks — they’re people like Dr Kami Sherpa, serving tea and saving lives.
