Strand Title: WIDOWS OF EVEREST

Programme Number & Title: PG 020288– WIDOWS OF EVEREST - 101 EAST

Date of Transmission: JULY 2021

Script Version: Fine Edit version

Transmission date (known or approx): 15 JULY 2021

Total Programme Duration (mins:secs): 25’ 50”

Independent/Commission Producer:  Stephanie Lebrun

Independent/Commission Producer Contact Details: stephanie.lebrun.babel@gmail.com  +33660694477

Commission/Independent Production Company and Address:

BABEL PRESS LTD 7/10 Chandos Street Cavendish Square W1G9DG - LONDON

Al Jazeera Commissioning Executive: Sharon Roobol

Al Jazeera Commissioning Executive Contact Details: Sharon.Roobold@aljazeera.net -

Al Jazeera producer/program editor: Susanna Low

Al Jazeera producer/program editor telephone number:

AL Jazeera bureau: KL Malaysia

Instructions:

Please use colour-coding when listing contributors and sourced footage. This will enable those elements to be more easily compared and added to the PasC form.

Narration – in CAPS

Dialogue – in italics

Correspondent to Camera, PTC – in plain text

Names and references as they appear in this transcript:

Time Code

(10:00:00:00)

Description of Scene

Audio

00:00:00

00:00:26

OPENING GRAPHICS OF AJ

VO : SREYA

Images of Climbers climbing the mountains.

Music...

MAJESTIC, CAPTIVATING AND DANGEROUS 

- MOUNT EVEREST IS THE ULTIMATE MOUNTAINEERING CHALLENGE.

CLIMBERS COME FROM AROUND THE WORLD SEEKING GLORY, BUT FOR THOSE WHO HELP THEM SCALE THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PEAK, IT CAN BE DEADLY WORK. 

SHERPA MEN DIE IN DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBERS LEAVING BEHIND WIDOWS WHO STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE.

00:00:27

00:00:30

JAGMO SOT:

It is really difficult for women like us to live our lives alone.

00:00:31

00:00:39

VO: SREYA

FORCED TO BECOME BREADWINNERS, SOME WOMEN ARE DEFYING TRADITION BY BREAKING INTO THE MALE-DOMINATED WORLD OF HIMALAYAN CLIMBING.  

00:00:40

00:00:50

NIMA DOMA SOT:

People told us we wouldn’t be able to do it - to summit Everest. But we made it and I was so happy I felt like my heart would explode with happiness.

00:00:51

0:00:58

VO: SREYA

101 EAST TRAVELS TO NEPAL WHERE SHERPA WIDOWS SEEK TO CONQUER EVEREST AND OVERTURN CENTURIES OF DISCRIMINATION.

00:01:00

00:01:12

OPENING TITLE

THE WIDOWS OF EVEREST

A film by Sreya Banerjee and Rojita Adhikari

00:01:13

00:01:17

Shot of Himalayan Mountains

Music….

00:01:18

00:01:39

Vo: SREYA

DEEP IN THE HIMALAYAS, THE WORLD’S HIGHEST PEAKS CAST A LONG SHADOW OVER NEPAL’S KHUMBU VALLEY.

JANGMO HAS LIVED HERE ALL HER LIFE. 

LIKE MANY SHERPA WOMEN, SHE MARRIED A MOUNTAINEER WHOSE LIFE - AND DEATH - WERE DEFINED BY MOUNT EVEREST.

00:01:41
00:02:36

JANGMO SOT:

My husband was a porter. He used to carry luggage from Base Camp to Camp One, Camp Two. Then he would come back to Base Camp and take his foreign clients to the top.  One day I got a call from my husband’s brother. He said, “We are taking your husband to Kathmandu by helicopter.”

By the time I reached Kathmandu, I couldn’t see my husband. He was already dead.

They were not able to save my husband’s life. It’s hard for me to talk about it. 

00:02:37        00:02:38

JANGMO CRYING..

Music..

00:02:39

00:03:37

VO:SREYA

JANGMO’S HUSBAND, DATENZING, WAS 37 WHEN HE DIED IN A CLIMBING ACCIDENT. 

HIS STORY IS A COMMON ONE HERE IN THE VILLAGE OF PHORTSE, MORE THAN 3800 METRES ABOVE SEA LEVEL. 

IT'S HOME TO MANY OF THE TOP SHERPA CLIMBERS.

THEY RISK THEIR LIVES TO HELP PAYING CUSTOMERS SCALE THE HIGHEST HIMALAYAN PEAKS. 

WEALTHY FOREIGNERS BEGAN FLOCKING TO NEPAL CHASING EVEREST GLORY IN THE 1990S, TRANSFORMING THE LIVES OF LOCALS.  

THEY WENT FROM BEING FARMERS TO SOME OF THE BEST MOUNTAINEERS IN THE WORLD.

SHERPAS CAN MAKE FIVE TIMES THE AVERAGE SALARY IN NEPAL WORKING AS GUIDES, PORTERS AND COOKS. 

00:03:38             00:03:45

BEAUTY SHOTS OF VILLAGE

Music…

00:03:46

00:04:03

VO:SREYA

DAWA DANURU STARTED WORKING IN THE MOUNTAINS WHEN HE WAS ONLY 17. SINCE THEN HE’S SCALED EVEREST A DOZEN TIMES, MOST RECENTLY IN 2019 AT THE AGE OF 60. 

HE ACCEPTS THE RISK IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FOR HIS FAMILY

00:04:03

00:04:49

DAWA SOT:

The work is really dangerous. If the foreigner who we’re with is slow, it can get really dangerous in the Khumbu Icefall. 

If the icefall collapses, then we will all fall through. We might also be caught in an avalanche. I was caught in the big avalanche in 2014. My foreign client was caught in that. I rescued him and other foreigners … and brought  them back to Base Camp.

00:04:50

00:05:08

VO:SREYA

Dawa’s family pictures

DAWA HAS SUFFERED SERIOUS INJURIES ON THE JOB. BUT HE KEEPS ON GOING, BECAUSE THERE ARE FEW OTHER OPTIONS. 

00:05:11

00:05:43

DAWA ITW

My wife told me to stop going on expeditions. But I can’t just stay at home and do nothing. This is my profession.

We aren’t educated, we don’t know how to use a computer. We have to do guide work and have to trek. I have to work to earn money for my family. We have no other choice. 

00:05:44

00:05:46

Dawa’s pictures

Music…  

00:05:47

00:06:01

VO: SREYA

DAWA’S WIFE, YANGJEN DOMA, HAS GOOD REASON TO FEAR FOR HER HUSBAND’S SAFETY. 

WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG, HER BROTHER WAS KILLED IN AN AVALANCHE. 

SHE ENDED UP MARRYING A MAN WHO WOULD BE EXPOSED TO THE SAME DANGERS

00:06:02

00:06:38

SOT Yangjen Doma Sherpa, DAWA’S WIFE:

I was afraid to marry him, but then I thought that’s my fate.

Every time he climbs, I’m really worried.

I’ve aged early because of the stress. 

When he climbs, I’m always at a monastery... praying that he comes back home safely. 

00:06:39

00:06:46

Images of Dawa’s house, nearby places.

Music…

00:06:47

0 0:06:58

 ABOUT 120 SHERPAS HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES ON EVEREST SINCE 1900 - AROUND A THIRD OF ALL RECORDED DEATHS ON THE MOUNTAIN.  

00:06:59

00:07:13

-          JOURNALIST SREYA PTC- 

In this Sherpa village of Phortse, glory and tragedy go hand in hand. Every house here has someone who has made it to the top of the Everest, not just once, but several times. But many people here have also lost their loved ones on the mountain peaks.

00:07:14

00:07:17

JANGMO WALKING

Music…

00:07:18

00:07:26

 VO: SREYA

WHEN JANGMO’S HUSBAND DIED, THE FAMILY LOST ITS BREADWINNER.

JANGMO WAS LEFT TO FEND FOR HERSELF AND HER TWO SONS. 

00:07:27

00:07:38

SOT JANGMO

It is really difficult for women like us to live our lives alone. I was worried about how I would raise my children. Getting them educated was a challenge. In Phortse, the school only has classes until fifth grade.

00:07:39

00:07:49

 VO: SREYA

SHE HAD TO SEND HER CHILDREN AWAY TO CONTINUE THEIR EDUCATION.

IT’S A DAY’S WALK TO HER 12-YEAR-OLD SON’S BOARDING SCHOOL. HER OLDER SON STUDIES IN THE CAPITAL, KATHMANDU.

00:07:51

00:08:17

AMBIANCE:

Conversation between Jangmo and her son

My younger son studies here in Khumjung school. It has been three months since I last saw him.

Jangmo-Hello son... What are you doing? 

Her son-I'm playing marbles.

Jangmo-Tomorrow you have to go to school, right? Do you have classes all day? Do you have to wear a mask in school? 

Her son- Yes.

Jangmo- Do you have a new mask? 

Her son-No.

00:08:18

00:08:28

JANGMO SOT:

Initially I couldn’t send my sons anywhere for their education. But with help from foreigners, my sons got the opportunity to study.

00:08:32

00:08:38

 VO: SREYA

ONE OF HER HUSBAND’S FOREIGN CLIENTS AND A SHERPA ORGANISATION PITCHED IN TO COVER HER SONS’ SCHOOL EXPENSES. 

00:08:42

00:08:56

 JANGMA WITH HER SON

I’ve brought a backpack for you. Do you like it? You can put your geometry box in here.

00:08:57

00:09:24

Jangmo SOT:

I received insurance money of 7 lakhs ($5900). Some foreign clients also gave us 2 lakhs ($1600) after his death. I did not get much help from the government. For the past three years, I’ve been getting a small pension that the government gives widows. That’s it. 

00:09:26

00:09:42

 VO:SREYA

 THE PENSION AMOUNTS TO 25 DOLLARS A MONTH. 

WHEN HER HUSBAND WAS ALIVE, A SINGLE EXPEDITION PROVIDED ENOUGH MONEY TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY FOR A YEAR. 

TO MAKE ENDS MEET, JANGMO HAS EVEN CONSIDERED DOING THE VERY THING THAT TOOK HIS LIFE.

00:09:43

00:10:10

Jangmo SOT: 

I feel scared. I think that if someone trains me, I’ll be able to climb. 

But then I think that my sons lost their father on Everest.

What will happen to my children if I also die while climbing mountains? 

00:10:11

00:10:24

BEAUTY SHOTS

Music…

00:10:25

00:10:42

VO: SREYA

(SHERKILAMU)

 IT’S A QUESTION CONFRONTING ANOTHER PHORTSE WIDOW -  SHERKILAMU. 

SHE KNOWS THE PAIN AND SUFFERING THAT EVEREST CAN INFLICT.

HER HUSBAND DIED IN A CLIMBING ACCIDENT IN 2007.

AFTER YEARS OF FINANCIAL STRUGGLES, SHE’S DECIDED TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS.  

00:10:43

00:11:01

phunuru:

sherikilamu:

Phunuru:

Tie the harness tightly around your waist. 

The harness has to be here above your hip.

Is it comfortable?

Yes.

Is it good or not?

Your helmet can’t be loose, all three of you, please see here. 

00:11:02

00:11:07

 VO:SREYA

THIS TRAINING IS AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP TO FULFILLING HER DREAM AND PERHAPS CHANGING HER FORTUNES.  

00:11:09

00:11:36

 SOT SHERIKILAMU

I’ve always been interested in climbing. Before my marriage  I often thought about climbing Everest. At that time it was really difficult for someone like me to climb mountains. I used to only think about it. But I didn’t know how to go about it, which office to visit for permits. Sponsors were not easily available.

00:11:38

00:11:43

 AMBIENCE

PHUNURU

See these two lines? You just stay there and push this ahead.  

00:11:50

00:12:10

 SOT SHERIKILAMU

If I’m able to summit Everest that would be great. It will change my life a great deal.

But climbing Everest is also dangerous. We never know if we’ll come back alive or not.

00:12:11

00:12:20

Climbing footage of team

Sreya going to sherikilamu’s house

Music…

00:12:21

00:12:32

 VO: SREYA

SHERKILAMU BECAME A WIDOW JUST FIVE YEARS AFTER SHE WAS MARRIED. 

SHE WAS LEFT TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR TWO SONS ALONE.

00:12:34

00:13:11

 SREYA WITH SHERKILAMU

-This is my husband’s certificate for climbing Cho Oyu. 

-This is from 2004, this one is from 2005, this one is from 2003, this one, 2002.

-The mountains are Everest, Ama Dablam ... Annapurna 1... Lhotse...

-Kanchenjunga

Sreya-which one is your husband?

-This is my husband and the three others are foreigners.

-After reaching the top, they always take a photo with the flag. That’s what this is.  

00:13:12

00:14:13

Sherkilamu SOT:

I got married when I was 24 years old. My husband was seven years older than me.

He was healthy and handsome. He was so funny although he didn’t talk much. But he had a good sense of humour.

He left home to lead a group expedition to Manaslu. And he did not have time to come back home. He went straight for an Everest expedition after that. 

I was told that an avalanche carried him away ...  but no one saw him ... and his body was never found.

00:14:14

00:14:30

Conversation exchanges between Sreya and Sherkilamu

Sreya-How difficult is life as a single mother? 

Sherkilamu-It was difficult. 

I worked in local hotels, with small trekking groups and farmed to get by.

I managed somehow. 

00:14:32

00:14:59

 VO:SREYA

THE CLIMBING PROWESS OF SHERPAS IS LEGENDARY, BUT FOR GENERATIONS, IT’S BEEN A MALE DOMAIN. 

WHEN MEN LEAVE TO CONQUER THE HIMALAYAN PEAKS, TRADITION DICTATES THAT WOMEN TAKE CARE OF THE HOME. 

AND FOR THOSE WHO LOSE THEIR HUSBANDS, WIDOWHOOD CAN DEFINE THEIR EXISTENCE. 

BUT A NEW GENERATION OF WOMEN IS CHALLENGING THESE NORMS.  

00:15:02

00:15:04

 NIMA and her daughter

NIMA: Do you have homework today?

NIMA’S DAUGHTER: Yes, I do.

00:15:05

00:15:20

 VO: SREYA

NIMA DOMA’S LIFE CHANGED FOREVER WHEN SHE LOST HER HUSBAND IN 2014.

HE WAS KILLED IN AN AVALANCHE ON EVEREST ALONG WITH 15 OTHER SHERPAS. 

FOUR YEARS LATER, SHE’D HAD ENOUGH OF THE DISCRIMINATION WIDOWS OFTEN SUFFER IN NEPAL. 

00:15:21

00:15:26

 AMBIENCE

Nima-Hey son, do you want a grape?

Son-No. 

00:15:28

00:16:47

NIMA DOMA SOT:

After one’s husband dies, if we wear new clothes... then that gets people talking. They say we have not even waited a year to get new clothes.

If we talk or interact with men then they assume that there is a relationship.

This is how our society thinks and I’ve been at the receiving end.

We can go to a wedding celebration after we are widowed but we can't do anything there.

Widows like us cannot give their blessings to the couple.

We are considered inauspicious. 

After losing my husband in 2014, all I did was cry for two years. I moved to Kathmandu in 2016. 

Here, I met about 30-35 other widows.

After meeting them, I felt energised. I am not the only widow, I thought.  There are others like me. Many lost their husbands in the mountains. I told a friend that we should start climbing as well, go where our husbands went. I told her we have to do something for widows like us.

00:16:48

00:17:13

 Vo: SREYA

NIMA DOMA DECIDED TO TAKE ON EVEREST TO HIGHLIGHT THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN WHO HAVE LOST THEIR HUSBANDS TO THE MOUNTAIN.  

SHE CONVINCED HER FRIEND FURDIKI, ANOTHER WIDOW, TO JOIN HER. 

AND THE TWO WIDOWS EVEREST EXPEDITION WAS BORN. 

AFTER TRAINING FOR A YEAR AND HONING THEIR SKILLS ON SMALLER MOUNTAINS, THEY SET OUT TOGETHER, TO CONQUER THE WORLD’S HIGHEST PEAK IN 2019.

00:17:14

00:18:26

NIMA DOMA SOT:

When we decided to climb Everest... people told us we wouldn’t be able to do it - to summit Everest. While we were in training there were those who told us... to focus on housework and farming.

 What will you get from this, they asked us. They told us that as women we weren’t capable. 

We prayed that we would achieve our goal. We didn’t know if we would come back alive or not.

But after we made it, I was so happy I felt like my heart would explode with happiness. 

I couldn't believe that I'd summited Everest.

I was on top of the world.

I was walking in my husband’s footsteps  in the mountains and fulfilling his dream.

00:18:27

00:18:37

 VO: SREYA

REACHING THE TOP OF EVEREST HAS TRANSFORMED NIMA’S LIFE. 

SHE NOW WORKS AS A GUIDE ON SHORTER TREKKING EXPEDITIONS AND IS A BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR A CLOTHING COMPANY. 

00:18:38

00:19:13

NIMA DOMA SOT:

 It’s like the difference between heaven and hell. Before we would only do housework. We were always worried about what people would think of us... what society would think. We were afraid of that.  

We have many friends who are widows. They were very happy for us. They told us that they were inspired by our achievement... and felt like they could also do anything they wanted in life.  They appreciated our work.

00:19:15

00:19:27

SEQUENCE @ KCC

VO: SREYA

NIMA DOMA’S EVEREST QUEST WAS FUELLED BY HER GRIT AND DETERMINATION.  

BUT THE TRAINING SHE RECEIVED AT A UNIQUE SCHOOL IN PHORTSE ALSO PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN HER SUCCESS. 

00:19:28

00:19:30

 Trainer Phunuru

Follow the green steps, it’s easy. 

00:19:31

00:19:49

 VO: SREYA

IT’S THE SAME PLACE WHERE SHERKILAMU IS LEARNING VITAL SKILLS TO HELP HER TACKLE EVEREST.  

THE KHUMBU CLIMBING CENTRE HAS TRAINED SEVERAL HUNDRED CLIMBERS FROM THE REGION SINCE IT OPENED ALMOST TWO DECADES AGO.

PHUNURU IS AN EXPERIENCED HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING GUIDE WHO TRAINS ASPIRING MOUNTAINEERS.  

00:19:50

00:20:01

Phunuru while training aspiring mountaineers

Good. Your problem is you guys are trying to use this leg. If you use this leg, then it will be automatically locked. If it is locked, then she can’t go there. She won’t be able to go to the other side either.

00:20:02

00:20:21

VO: SREYA

PHUNURU’S MOUNTAINEERING JOURNEY BEGAN EARLY, AT THE AGE OF 16. 

HIS FATHER AND BROTHER WERE ALSO SHERPA GUIDES. 

HE’S CLIMBED EVEREST 12 TIMES. NOW HE LEADS SEVERAL EXPEDITIONS A YEAR, BOTH IN NEPAL AND ABROAD. 

HE’S NO STRANGER TO TRAGEDY ON THE SLOPES EITHER. 

00:20:02

00:20:44

PHUNURU SOT:

In 2006, my sister lost her husband in an avalanche in Khumbu Icefall. After that, my sister became a widow. She got support from friends and family ... but she faced a lot of problems without her husband.

00:20:45

00:21:57

INTERVIEWER SREYA’S QUESTION:

PHUNURU REPLIES:

JOURNALIST REYA:

PHUNURU:

At the school, you are focusing on women specially widows. Why is that?

In our culture and in our society, people think only a man can earn money outside the house. The husband earns and women only do housework. The wife has to take care of the house.

If they then become widows, life becomes even more difficult.  They don’t have a steady income, it’s difficult to make ends meet, to take care of the children.

I thought if we can give women this opportunity, they’ll be able to do something with their lives.  We are investing in this. That’s why we took this concept forward.

How do you think that climbing expedition can change their lives?

It will change their lives completely. It will change their personality... and if they are able to summit Everest they will make a name for themselves. They’ll be recognised all over the world. 

The way they eat, drink, walk, and live - everything will change. Their lives will change. Working in the expedition field exposes us to the world since we have to communicate with foreigners.

00:22:18

00:22:36

VO: SREYA

AFTER A LONG HIATUS DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE CLIMBING SEASON IS ABOUT TO BEGIN IN NEPAL. 

AND THE TIME HAS COME FOR SHERKILAMU TO PUT HER NEW SKILLS TO THE TEST.

BUT FIRST, SHE AND PHUNURU ARE VISITING A MONASTERY TO PRAY FOR GOOD FORTUNE.

00:22:40

00:22:55

SHERKILAMU SOT

I was seeking blessings because I’ll be working at Base Camp. I prayed for my success... and for the success of all the other climbers and staff.

00:22:56

00:23:05

BEAUTY SHOTS OF MOUNTAIN

Music..

00:23:06

00:23:24

 BASE CAMP SEQUENCE

PHUNURU TALKING ON WALKIE TALKIE

-Camp Two? Base Camp.

-Hello, can   you hear me?

-Yes, I can.

-Yes, I copy.

-So how’s the weather?

-It looks like it's going to start snowing.

-So is the base station there ready or not?

00:23:29

00:23:41

 VO: SREYA

SHERKILAMU HAS JOINED PHUNURU ON AN EXPEDITION. 

SHE’S MADE IT TO EVEREST BASE CAMP, 5600M ABOVE SEA LEVEL. 

PHUNURU IS PLEASED WITH HER PROGRESS. 

00:23:42

00:24:04

Phunuru SOT

Sherkilamu is doing well. Let’s see how it goes. The girls are interested. 

It will take time because this is just the beginning. 

So far the expedition is going well. 

00:24:11

00:24:13

 VO: SREYA

TODAY, SHERKILAMU IS ON KITCHEN DUTY.  

00:24:14

00:24:26

Exchanges between Sherikilamu and a man from the camp.

-When will the food be ready?

-Food will be served at 11am.

-OK.

-We’re preparing it right now.

-It’s salad, right?

-Yes. 

00:24:27

00:24:54

SHERKILAMU SOT:

Last year around this time... I was back home in Phortse... working in the field and doing household chores to get by. 

I want to go to Camp Two next, but slowly.  It will take time, I know.

For now, it is better to work here than sit at home. I’m getting paid. Working keeps me healthy and happy.

00:24:58

00:25:15

IMAGES BASE CAMP SUNSET  + NIGHT  PREPARATION  + DEPARTURE

FOR SHERKILAMU AND TODAY'S GENERATION OF SHERPA WOMEN, EVEREST HAS COME TO EMBODY MORE THAN JUST GRIEF AND LOSS. 

NOW, IT'S ALSO A SYMBOL OF HOPE AND THE POSSIBILITY OF FORGING A NEW FUTURE, HIGH IN THE HIMALAYAS.

00:25:16

00:25:38

SHERKILAMU SOT: 

It will be great if I’m able to summit Everest. People will respect me. If I succeed, they’ll know what I’m capable  of.  

00:25:39

00:25:50

ALJAZEERA CLOSING GRAPHICS

Music….