A little over four months after a late night fire ravaged their home and livelihoods, Tashi and Lakpa Sherpa are in the midst of rebuilding their lodge high in the Nepalese Himalayas, thanks to the generous help of local citizens and folks from around the world who have pitched in to make it all possible.

As of early April rebuilding efforts for the new Ama Dablam Lodge in the village of Namche Bazaar Nepal are well underway. The Sherpas plan to rebuild the lodge as two separate buildings. The first building will house the lodge’s dining room and kitchen facility. The second building will be the Ama Dablam main lodge, which will house guests and contain the lodge’s bathrooms.

Work has already begun on the lodge’s new dinning room and kitchen facilities. The building’s stone brick foundation is already in place and the exterior walls are going up.

Each summer Tashi and Lakpa come to Grand County during Nepal’s summer monsoon season. While staying in Middle Park the couple sells jewelry while assisting with an Evergreen based nonprofit called Nepal: Here to Help. Nepal: Here to Help is largely led and organized in the United States by local citizen Sandy Kukoy. The Sherpas serve as the organization’s formal representatives in Nepal, helping to distribute charitable funds raised in the United States to Nepalese families in need.

According to Kukoy, Tashi and Lakpa hope to start construction on the second building within the lodge as soon as possible. Along with her update on the construction process Kukoy offered a few words of thanks to the community from the Sherpas themselves.

“Tashi and Lakpa are truly grateful to all of their friends here in Grand County,” Kukoy stated. “Their friends have supported them so much and Tashi has said more than once without their friends help in Grand County they would not have been able to rebuild their lodge. They are anxious to see everyone and thank all them all personally this summer.”

Total rebuilding costs for the lodge are estimated at around $300,000. So far, the Sherpas have received funds from 20 different states as well as funds from both France and Great Britain.

The Sherpas are planning to return to Grand County this summer and will once again be selling jewelry and goods from Nepal to earn money. While back in Middle Park the Sherpas will assist with Nepal: Here to Help’s fourth annual Benefit, held at the Kukoy cabin near Grand Lake. The event will be held Aug. 8.