Nepal One Day at a Time: One Woman's Quest to Teach, Trek and Build a School in the Remote Himalaya

A Himalayan adventure travel memoir with a humanitarian twist. About to turn sixty-eight, Patti's life was disintegrating. Leaving behind her injured, husband she packs her bags and heads to Nepal. Solo travel forces her to surmount daunting hurdles-both physical and emotional. While trekking in the forbidden kingdom of Upper Mustang she realizes her strength and determination, when she, suffers a frightening fall in an isolated cave monastery. Volunteering in remote Ratmate village presents unforeseen challenges, and a visit to nearby Aprik village offers a life-changing opportunity. Along the way, conversations with fascinating monks, teachers, and entrepreneurs provide insight into how best to serve the children of Nepal. "Life was disintegrating. Within the space of three years Patti Shales Lefkos and husband, Barry Hodgins, had been evacuated by helicopter from Nepal’s Everest Base Camp Circuit to a Kathmandu hospital where he had a stent installed, her older sister had disappeared into the depths of Alzheimer’s and her best friend was battling cancer. Before their planned return trip to Nepal, Barry ruptured his Achilles tendon. They cancelled the trip. Neither knew how to handle the situation. Would Patti be resentful if she stayed home? Would going tear them apart? Wanting to capture what might be her last chance to volunteer in a remote village and trek to the high altitude medieval kingdom of Upper Mustang, she decides to go alone. In April 2014, at sixty-seven, the former educator sets off on a Himalayan adventure with her guide, Rajendra Neupane, and porter, Resham Rana. Intimidated by her late night arrival into the chaos of the Kathmandu airport she barely survives the challenges of her first day in Nepal: a sprained ankle, getting lost on a rickshaw ride and mistaking a waiter for a midnight attacker. In remote Ratmate village power outages, clashes in customs and language cause embarrassing mistakes. The first foreigner to visit even more remote Aprik village, she is shown a dilapidated school. Villagers request her help. After a rest in lakeside Pokhara, she boards a flight through Himalayan snow-capped peaks to Jomsom. From there she starts a month long high altitude trek close to the border of Tibet, in Upper Mustang. Her original intention is to reach the walled-fortress city of Lo-Manthang to witness Tiji, the Buddhist festival, and research the changes tourism has brought to the medieval kingdom since it opened in 1992. Along the way she meets entrepreneurial lamas, gregarious lodge owners, mystical ancient monks, forward thinking educators, local families and engaging fellow travellers. Still unable to erase from her mind the faces of the children of Aprik village, she gains wisdom and insights into ways to support Aprik villagers in their quest to provide a better education for their children. After two weeks in Lo-Manthang she heads back over high passes. Despite exhaustion after a nine-hour trek in dust and wind she embraces a risk, agreeing to a rarely travelled route to a cave monastery. She falls and injures her hip. Rallying physical and emotional strength she continues the five-day trek to the airport. Finally back in Canada she and Barry, motivated by the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, form a non-profit. As a team they raise funds to build a school in Aprik Village. Patti conquers the fear of travelling solo, gains confidence as a trekker and writer, risks an alternate route and despite injury makes it home. She gains independence within her marriage and discovers a higher purpose: giving back to the people and country she has learned to love. The book discusses the current education system in the Gorkha and Upper Mustang areas of Nepal, the caste system in Nepal, a bit about the Buddhist and Hindu religion, the 2014 situation in Upper Mustang and changes created by the area opening for tourism in 1992 and the completion of a road to the capital city of Lo-Manthang. This book results in a partnership with Kathmandu-based NGO Sambhav Nepal and Vernon, BC Kalamalka Rotary, the formation of non-profit NEPAL ONE DAY AT A TIME, culminating in building a school and homes in Aprik Village, Gorkha, Nepal."-- Provided by publisher