Nepal Update 2005
Dolpo, Nepal
Where Peter Mattheisssen wrote “The Snow Leopard”
My last trip to Nepal in August and September of 2005 was very productive. I bought many new things in Kathmandu for shows this fall. However the main purpose of my visit was a trek in Dolpo in the west of Nepal on the Tibetian border. It was a three week trek in one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been. Because of the Maoist problems, we were not allowed to meet Snow Leopard anti-poaching people or visit some of the schools and other projects that World Women Work has been involved in.
Dunai Boarding School
When we arrived in Dunai at the end of the trip, I was very fortunate to be able to spend time at the Dunai Boarding School. I met four young girls — three in grade 8 and one in grade 10 — who came from very poor families in Upper Dolpo. The number of yaks that a family owns is their wealth. Each of these families only owned three yaks. The girls wanted to finish secondary school but are in need of continued scholarship aid. It costs $500 a year to attend this Boarding School, which by our standards is nothing. Their ambitions to become a teacher, a nurse, a traditional healer, and a Park Warden are in jeopardy, so what a wonderful opportunity for World Women Work to be able to help these four young women realize their goals. It makes me very happy that I can give back to such a beautiful place that not many people have ever seen and hopefully be a contributor to saving a way of life – simplicity and being a part of nature not found often in the global world of today.
