Letter from Changing Lives Nepal founder, Nancy Porten

We had such an enlightening talk with Parshu a few months ago about his work in Nepal. Below was an email I received from the founder of Changing Lives Nepal:

"Parshu completed his US exposure visit last week! He was happy to be going home to Nepal to rejoin his family. He expressed to me that it will take him a while to process all of the wonderful experiences he had while in the US and wanted me to thank all of you for his opportunity to speak your group at Satori Tea.  I have attached photos taken from our visit that I thought you might enjoy. I will send some additional emails containing photos due to the size and number of photos.

Over Parshu's month visit he saw not only the growing dome but also visited urban rooftop gardens, organic farms, organic almond orchards and beekeeping operations. He traveled through central and northern California, spoke at the University of San Francisco, UC Davis, Sierra Nevada College, and Parasol Foundation to share his work. Out of this experience has already come new project ideas, new relationships for technical support, and a heightened world view that we’re confident will strengthen Parshu’s ability to develop programs, find outside funding, and build his vision of economic development through organic cash crops in Nepal.

This year Parshu and Changing Lives Nepal launched an organic almond program in Western Nepal, with over 300 saplings planted. Some were planted on our demonstration plot and some were planted by local farmers to get started on their own orchards. Requiring less maintenance than tea and starting to produce almonds in only 3 years, we’re anxious to see how well the saplings produce in the coming years. Almonds are a high value cash crop that can double, triple, quadruple farmer’s income—in one of the poorest districts in Nepal. We’ll be sure to tell you more about almonds as the project continues!

Warm wishes to you all and thanks for supporting Parshu's adventures!!

-Nancy Porten