One of the great pleasures of travel is returning home. Enveloped by familiar space, greeted by smiling faces, gliding through everyday routines, luxuriating in simple comforts. When I'm traveling in Nepal, I often forget how much effort is expended...
Creating a children's home in rural Nepal has been a wonderfully rewarding experience, but it's not without its challenges. We have faced issues ranging from low exam scores to mice--with varying success. (We have high exam scores now but persistent mice.) When I went...
The buzz in mountainous villages in our project area is TEA! As I made a short tour of tea farms and the new factory site last week, I continually met groups of farmers who were talking tea--how much they were earning, how much they were investing in the new joint...
This fall, as I trekked up to Everest Base Camp with a new group, we stopped in to deliver a brand new electric shaver to the nuns. The response was anything but ambivalent. The nuns were all smiles and invited us in for tea. Salty buttery Tibetan tea—which is an...
I step into a dark wood kitchen. A huge hearth is centered on the wall, fire burning, and the place feels like an inviting cavern. Sunlight filters in through a small window. My eyes adjust and bring out the details: a wide bench covered with a blue floral Tibetan...
Each time I make the trek to Everest Base Camp, I stop in to visit the Buddhist nuns in Debuche, making a small donation and sharing their story with my group. In 1959, a nun named Ani Ngawang Pemba escaped the persecution in Tibet and came to the Everest Region where...
Video: Dr. Seuss Comes To Nepal Ten children, two women, five goats and two cows--this is home for all of them. Our Children's Home feels better every time I visit. Krishna has turned from quiet and scared to curious and engaged. Suresh has become the proud oldest...
Mountain Madness president and CEO Mark Gunlogson joined me for an excursion into the Nepali countryside so that he could check out Changing Lives Nepal in action. Our foray into the "hills" began as field visits often do: with a crazy motorcycle ride. Monsoon rains...
4:30pm Hang out with the kids. Collect pictures they drew today with the markers and pencils I brought last fall. Inspect each one closely and praise mightily. 5:30pm Visit nearby hospital to consider putting a volunteer there. Doctor only comes 2x/week. Hospital sees...
9:30am Play with kids, hang out, have fun, relish it. 10:30am Educate Sita on the business of goats. We calculate together: you buy 3 goats for $100 dollars. You feed them $50 of food over 3 months. How much should you sell a goat for? 11:00am Lunch #1 Rice with...
8:00am Stop to check on unfinished wooden doors and windows for the Batase School. Neel lights a fire under the slacking carpenter. I stretch my shoulders after 9 lbs of fruit have been bouncing on them for a few hours. 9:00am Arrive at the Children's Home to some...
Saying that I work with charitable projects in Nepal doesn't fully convey either the work or the reward. Yesterday's field trip reveals more about why it's worth it... 4:00am Wake up and meditate. Only Day 2 in Nepal, so jet lag is working in my favor. I'm awake....