From Everest to Empowerment: A Journey of Gratitude and Giving in Nepal

by Rev. Andrea Benson

What started as a spiritual adventure, became a very special project. In May of 2022, after losing my dear foster-sister to cancer, my daughter Caroline and I travelled to Nepal and trekked to Everest Base Camp with a woman’s adventure company. It was very physically challenging and I worked hard in the six months leading up to our departure to get in shape. I had never been trekking and I had never travelled to Asia. I really had no idea what to expect, but knew I wanted to challenge myself, see the Himalayas and learn about other cultures. The trip was very hard and every day I was able to continue felt like a victory. I breathed deep, found peace in the mountains and comfort with my daughter and travelling companions. We made it to the base of Mount Everest at 5365 meters and all the way back again. Nepal really is uphill both ways!

Upon returning home, I looked for a way to say thank you to Nepal and the universe for my many blessings. We were extremely fortunate to have had two wonderful guides, Norbu and Koplia. I was delighted to discover Koplia was a trained facilitator with “Days for Girls – Nepal”.

The Days for Girls mission is simple; work to eliminate the stigma and limitations associated with menstruation, so that women and girls have improved health, education and livelihoods. They do this by providing sustainable solutions for menstruation along with health and hygiene information.

When I asked, “How could I help?” Koplia quickly replied, “If you can provide funds for the sanitary kits, we will arrange the kits and organize a trip to rural schools.” So that’s what we did!

I had never done a fundraiser before, but after months of planning, I was on my way back to Kathmandu. I was amazed and humbled by the incredible generosity of my friends and family. We raised over $4,000 and were able to bring over 180 kits to young women and teachers. Each sanitary kit consisted of two sets of shields, eight liners, two panties, one towel, a bar of soap, a calendar and pencil, and a small waterproof bag for after-use.

On March 13, 2023, I arrived in Kathmandu to find my friend Norbu waiting for me at the airport. He dropped me off at a hotel in Thamel, the tourist region of the city, and I immediately hit the pillow. The following morning, I met up with my friend Brenda, our guides, and a local municipal representative, who had helped with logistics.

We left early. Our all terrain vehicle’s roof was piled high with bags of kits and our gear for the next three weeks. We left the Kathmandu valley and headed to Pokhara. The drive was an adventure in itself! The organized chaos of the traffic leaves you breathless. Along the roadside are buildings painted in bright pinks, blues and yellows, or decorated with patterns. Roadside vendors sell snacks and fresh corn and pretty much anything else you might need or want. Women wash clothes in buckets while goats and chickens scavenge. Occasionally monkeys dart across the road and cows meander into traffic, oblivious of the vehicles dodging them. We stopped occasionally and my favorite stop was the drive-through banana vendor, whose fruit was small and sweet. Eventually the road became very rough. It was an endurance test through endless construction and dust clouds, but the landscape was incredibly beautiful. Terraced gardens cover every hill. Winter rice paddies lay in the lowlands and oxen teams plowed new gardens amongst the elegant egrets. We finally arrived in Pokhara early evening.

The next morning, we headed to the schools, a drive of several hours over rough rocky roads into the beautiful Ghandruk countryside. It was a day I’ll never forget! The schools were perched on beautiful hilltops, surrounded by winter rice paddies, new potato and wheat crops, large vegetable gardens, and blossoming rhododendron trees.

At each school, we were welcomed by happy, smiling teachers and students. Our guide Koplia engaged the young women and teachers, and encouraged them to ask questions. The presentation included a hygiene refresher, basic self-defense and a reminder on the dangers of human trafficking and social media, but there was a good amount of giggling and all attendees were full of smiles. As we presented the kits we were able to engage with them and chat a little. Most of the students were able to speak a bit of English as it’s taught as a second language. Afterwards we would head outside to take photos and continue to chat with everyone. Everyone was as curious about us, as we were of them.

I remained in Nepal for three weeks and trekked to the base of Annapurna with Koplia, Brenda and our porter, Gaz. We were welcomed in the teahouses of the Gurung people and took time to learn about the culture. We made Nak butter, ground cumin seeds and we even tried weaving on a hand loom. The expert weaver who attempted to instruct me on the loom had a pretty good laugh at my expense, I was hopeless. We visited monasteries and met many wonderful Nepalese as well as trekkers from around the world. The trekking was very challenging and we had many adventures. We got caught in a snowstorm that included deafening thunder and we were forced to cross a wide rocky, icy, riverbed to avoid an avalanche. But again, the mountains and people gave me peace and I felt profound gratitude for all the blessings in my life.

2024: Return to Nepal

Witnessing first-hand the direct impact we had, how great the need is, the support and gratitude from the people we met, I was driven to return in September 2024. Once again I was overwhelmed with gratitude to my family and friends. Funds of over $5,000 were raised including $500 from the Beverly Fenerty-McKibbon award. This allowed us to reach over 200 young women!

My daughter and my friend Anne were able to join me and in September we headed to Nepal. Again, Norbu and Koplia arranged for the acquisition of the sanitary kits and set up the logistics for the schools.

September 28 was a long day that began with an early breakfast. Our team of three trekkers, two guides, two porters Ingra and Som, and our driver Dhan, left the city and headed north with all the kits and trekking bags strapped to the roof of Dhan’s 4WD Nissan Patrol. We drove to the first school stopping only to stretch and snack occasionally. Dhan did the impossible. The last two hours of road was a rough path of great chunks of yellowish stone hewn from the mountain side. We crossed washouts and streams often featuring a sheer drop on one edge. The only traffic we met were water buffalo, goats, chickens, and amazingly enough, motorcycles. The locals used vertical footpaths and mostly avoided the road.

We reached Ganesh School in Thumi after lunch. All the young women and their female teachers crowded into a classroom for the presentation. Koplia covered the kits, hygiene, self defence and cyber security. There were lots of smiles. The teachers were very kind and afterward presented us all with beautiful handmade flower necklaces.

Then we were off to another secondary school located in Swara, where we met with a large group of happy young women including a group from a school an hour away who had walked up to join us.

After presentations, we walked through the village to a guesthouse to spend the night. We sat in a back garden under a Pomelo tree, drinking sweet black Nepali tea while the smells of cooking fires and aromatic spices filled the air. Clusters of lights from neighboring villages appeared like stars in the hills around us. Our hosts boarded students with vision impairments and after supper we could hear children chatting and practicing keyboard chords. Our hosts were lovely and supper was excellent.

We left the schools behind and spent three weeks trekking. It turned out to be my most challenging trip. We were forced to change our route because of landslides and washed out trails, and had to walk over boulders the size of trucks and through knee deep waterfall streams that flowed over our paths. We crossed Thorong La pass at 5,416 meters and saw the sunrise over the Annapurna Massif and Dhaulagiri mountain ranges. We spent our evenings tired out from the day, drinking pots of masala or honey lemon tea, playing hours of cards. We made new friends, solidified the existing bonds of friendship and of mother and daughter.

I will forever be grateful for my time spent in Nepal. I learned that giving yourself time to grieve is very important and that helping others can be part of that spiritual journey. Finally, I learned you can have a lot of fun playing cards with people who don’t share your language and recommend everyone give this a try. 🙂