[ti:Nepal Guide Uses Own Money to Help] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Crowds of foreign visitors usually enjoy the scenic trails [00:05.76]in Nepal's Himalayan mountains. [00:10.12]But for more than a year, the trails have been empty. [00:14.64]And most of the country's tourism industry [00:18.88]is still shut down by the pandemic. [00:22.36]That means tens of thousands of Sherpa guides [00:26.60]have been left without the work needed to feed their families. [00:32.40]Ang Phurba Sherpa has been trying [00:35.80]to help those struggling the most during the pandemic. [00:40.72]He told the Associated Press that he also hopes [00:45.40]his actions lead others to do the same. [00:49.80]Sherpa has been loading his truck with large bags of rice, [00:54.20]lentils, cooking oil and other necessities. [00:59.56]He bought the food supplies with his own money [01:03.88]and delivers them himself to many families in Kathmandu. [01:10.56]Sherpa told reporters: "I am trying to help in any way I can [01:16.16]because I thought I should give to our community ..." [01:20.92]He adds that the guides have no work and need help. [01:26.40]Nepal normally has two trekking seasons each year [01:30.92]— spring and autumn. [01:34.16]That is when the majority of foreigners come to hike the trails [01:38.76]that cut through the country's snow-covered mountains. [01:44.24]In 2019, about 171,000 tourists visited Nepal to trek [01:52.24]They paid for hiking guides, ate in restaurants, [01:56.96]slept at inns, and bought equipment. [02:01.72]In 2020, there were hardly any tourists. [02:06.00]It is the same again this year. [02:10.32]Nepal reopened to tourists in March, [02:13.52]but only a few hundred foreigners have come. [02:17.68]Also, they come to climb the country's famous mountains, [02:22.08]such as Mount Everest, and not to trek. [02:28.08]"The guides are facing lots of trouble [02:30.64]and they are in pain..." Sherpa said. [02:35.00]As a trekking guide himself, [02:37.16]he said he is also in "a difficult situation." [02:41.52]But he said he wants to help his fellow guides [02:45.56]and hopes they will "come out to help each other." [02:49.60]Their situation has been made worse [02:52.52]by a new lockdown that started in April [02:56.52]as cases of the COVID-19 virus increased in the area. [03:03.44]Sherpa has helped Kunjun Lama, another guide. [03:08.20]He has been struggling to feed his family of six. [03:12.56]He said the rice and oil [03:15.64]he received would help his family for a month. [03:21.12]"It has been two years [03:22.96]and I have had not had any trekking guide work," Lama said. [03:27.52]He added that "the worst part [03:30.32]is there is no other work available at all right now." [03:35.48]As well as helping his fellow guides, [03:38.60]for the past three months Sherpa has been taking food [03:42.68]to a shelter for 57 disabled children. [03:47.88]Shelter operator Dendi Sherpa said the main source of money [03:52.92]had been his own pay from guide work. [03:56.04]Without that, he had been struggling to run the shelter. [04:01.88]"But with help like this [04:03.96]we are able to feed the children," he said. [04:07.36]I'm Anna Matteo.更多听力请访问51VOA.COM