Nepal, The Land Of Bravehearts
In November 2014, I spoke at a conference where a fellow speaker was Nepal’s very own hero, Anuradha Koirala, the lady who has rescued more than 15,000 women from human trafficking. I met her for the first time at that conference. Sitting in the green room with her she told me about the beautiful mountains of Nepal and its people, whose hospitality, she said, could turn a stone hearted man into one brimming with compassion.
My team and I instantly started planning and preparing to head to Nepal with Project FUEL. We decided June 2015 would be a good month. But the earthquake in the month of April changed everything. For the country and us.
We felt the set back, and we felt the pain of Nepal, but our spirits were not dampened. If anything, we wanted to be there all the more now. We wanted to help our brothers and sisters from another land. The immense courage and strength shown by the Nepalese people after the earthquake provoked, inspired and encouraged us to head there with Project FUEL’s Masterpiece Tour. We titled the tour ‘Building Bravehearts’ because we believe, a pat on the back, a kiss on the cheek, and long warm hugs are the three most important gifts you can give someone to make them feel like everything is going to be alright. Because the truth is, that everything is going to be alright. We wanted to give all that and much, much more to Nepal, through our Masterpiece Tour.
The strong spirit and hospitable hearts of the Nepalese people, even in those testing times melted our hearts. Through all that they were going through, they recounted the simple acts of life and shared their learnings with us; definitely one of the most significant acts of bravery we’ve ever witnessed. The memories from that magnificent country, the glory of its people and their undying spirit to work hard was hard to say goodbye to. After days of meeting hundreds of people in Nepal we realized kindness doesn’t have an upper limit. There is no upper limit to how many people you can help or rescue or uplift; but there is a lower limit and that is one. If you can help even one other human being enrich his/her human experience, you have done your bit. Do that bit.
It will take us several posts to convey the lessons learnt, stories documented and lives touched in Nepal. Stay with us on this journey as we reflect back and grow better and stronger with each.
Photo Courtesy: Sabit Tisekar (The Outbox Project)
