Phurenje Sherpa named his 2-year-old son Edmund after the climber he admired. Photo / Simon Baker.
Edmund Tashi Sherpa is too young to appreciate the significance of the man he is named after, or how that man has influenced his future.
But as the 2-year-old lay in his father's arms in front of the statue of Sir Edmund Hillary at Mt Cook Village, he
gestured vigorously and his face became animated.
Phurenje Sherpa plays a DVD documentary on Sir Edmund to his Kiwi-born son almost every day at breakfast so that he can slowly learn about his namesake.
"He was one of the greatest [people] in the world. Especially to the Sherpa people. We regard him as a king, or as the godfather of the Sherpa people," Mr Sherpa says.
"If he didn't build a school, I don't know what the Sherpa people would be like right now. Since he built a school, Sherpas have become doctors and pilots flying Boeing 747s."
Without the education he got at Khurikhola Secondary School in Nepal, built by Sir Edmund, Mr Sherpa thinks he would now be herding yaks around his home village instead of living in the "paradise country" of New Zealand.
"We wouldn't know what the world looks like. My granddad wanted me to be a monk ... but I wanted to go to school and study English."
It was a friend of Sir Edmund's, he said, who sponsored his first trip to New Zealand in 1997 to study English and Japanese. With the help of Sir Edmund and Lady June Hillary he became a New Zealand citizen, and his wife Tshering was given a visa to come to New Zealand with him.
Mr Sherpa, 35, now lives with his wife and their son in the picturesque Mt Cook Village. He leads day treks and his wife works in a cafe.
On his visits back to Nepal, he has witnessed "huge change" for the better. Many people are jealous that he lives in New Zealand and travels on a New Zealand passport.
Mr Sherpa met Sir Edmund several times over the years.
"Meeting him and shaking his hand and talking to him ... it's like meeting his holiness, the Dalai Lama. We knew him when we were very young, when he used to come to our school every few years. We had to practise for many days to say 'welcome Sir Edmund'."
He doubts Sir Edmund would have remembered him, as he is one of thousands of Sherpas who have had the chance to personally thank him for all he has done for their people.
The last time he spoke to Sir Edmund was when he introduced him to his son in Christchurch in 2006.
"[Sir Edmund] was very pleased and he hugged my son. We thought how lucky we were. We took a lot of photos ... and we will explain it to [Edmund] when he can understand where his name came from."
Mr Sherpa and four of his five brothers have followed in the footsteps of Sir Edmund and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, and climbed Mt Everest. Three of his brothers continue to guide climbers on the mountain.
On the day Sir Edmund died, Mr Sherpa was out trekking. When he arrived back at the village the news came like a hammer blow.
"It is very sad for New Zealand [and] especially the Sherpa people in Nepal."
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