For me, the most encouraging effect of tourism is the reduction in unemployment. In many parts of Nepal, people leave villages for cities or Gulf countries because there is no work. Here, Sherpa people have increasingly taken control of tourism businesses themselves, both in Khumbu and Kathmandu.
Our quality of life has improved. Families have better food and clothing and can afford more household goods. People work as porters, cooks, guides, lodge owners, employees and shopkeepers.
Healthcare has also advanced greatly. We now have health posts, hospitals and dental services. Earlier generations depended almost entirely on traditional healing, which could not treat many illnesses and injuries that modern medicine can address.
Tourism created opportunities that allowed people to remain in Khumbu instead of leaving home simply to find a livelihood.
Prosperity has also made us more materially competitive. Sherpa people are generally honest and do not like to focus on wrongdoing, but recently I have noticed neighbours quietly comparing houses: whose is larger, whose looks newer and whose contains more expensive things.
Children have more freedom and more opportunities than before. Relationships between parents and children are also more open. These are positive changes, although every generation must decide how to use its new freedom.
The environmental cost concerns me most. Deforestation and poor waste management remain serious. Building regulations are weakly enforced, and many new structures no longer follow traditional forms. This changes the appearance of our villages and, in my view, something of our culture too.
A larger house may show greater income, but when every house abandons the local style, the village slowly stops looking like home.
Resource extraction still causes much environmental damage. I hope tourism can eventually offer an economic alternative that makes forests and landscapes more valuable alive than consumed.
I do not believe tourism has been perfect. It has brought competition, construction and environmental pressure. Yet it has also created healthcare, jobs and choices that people elsewhere in Nepal often have to migrate to obtain.
My judgment remains hopeful: I am glad tourism developed here, but our next achievement must be learning to protect the environment and cultural character that prosperity now places under pressure.