Maya is not a morning person. Like a friend with a hangover, she ignores the sun pouring in as the curtains are drawn back, and when she finally rises with the back of her arm shielding her eyes, she acts like getting out of bed is the greatest of effort...

One year after Maya flew with me to Kathmandu, she is adjusting well to life in her new home! She's clearly more open and secure than when I saw her in the spring. Stability and love are powerful forces for transformation. This visit, I brought a warm jacket for the...

  Ama Ghar recently had a family day and inauguration of their new building, so I went out to visit and see how Maya was doing. She had arrived at the orphanage during Tihar, which meant days of feasting, singing, and celebration -- a good way to begin! As the...

As the newest member of our trek group, Maya enjoyed quite a bit of attention, but it was still me who was momma. Whether it meant bathroom breaks, food, buying a toothbrush, or putting on warmer clothes (my fleece worn as a dress), I was suddenly the mother of a...

  I never thought I'd be carrying a child on my back through the Himalayas, but that's exactly where I found myself. When the Sunrise family decided to send Maya to Kathmandu, they needed a way to get her there. I was hiking out to Lukla the same day and catching...

  On my way to Everest Base Camp this fall, our first stop was Phakding. Maya was looking great! She was smiling and talking and far less shy than only a few months before. She was writing the alphabet in a notebook although she wasn't in school yet, and she...

Thanks to our donors, Changing Lives Nepal raised enough money this summer to send Maya to school for a year, perhaps two. In Nepal, however, money is just the beginning of a solution. I started considering how we could best ensure Maya's future. Maya is about 5 years...

  Maya Rai's mother killed herself before Maya was 3. Her father drank too much, beat her, and married a second wife who didn't like her. Her father wanted to be rid of her so much that he offered to give her to anyone who would take her, but no one in her...