He devoted all of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan trust, which he founded and to which he had given much of his time and energy. Through his efforts he had succeeded in building many schools and hospitals in this remote region of the Himalayas. He was the Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation, a United States non-profit body that helps improve the ecology and living conditions in the Himalayas.
The photo in right shows Sir Edmund Hillary after he was decorated by with a Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw in 2004. (Photo AFP)
In the photo below, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal and Edmund P. Hillary of New Zealand, show the kit they wore when conquering the world’s highest peak, the Mount Everest, on May 29, at the British Embassy in Katmandu, capital of Nepal, in this June 26, 1953 file photo. Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century’s greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday.(Photo AP)
Hillary in Banepa, Nepal, in this March 12, 1963 (Photo AP).
In the photo below, explorers Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal, left, and Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand who conquered Mount Everest in 1953, are in this 1953 handout photo.(Photo AP)
Sir Edmund Hillary (R) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay smile during their first interview with Reuters special correspondent Peter Jackson after their legendary ascent of Mount Everest (summit to right of Hillary’s head) at camp in Thyangboche, Nepal in this June 6, 1953 file photo. (Photo Reuters)
