We are writing to you from the village of Nagathali, which is surrounded by snow-capped Himalayas to the east, north, and west. Langtang Peak, sharing a name with the National Park we are in, stands at 7,227 meters, a perfect view from our kitchen. A few days into trekking and we have found our legs, backs, and minds. We have already covered around 40 kilometers of hiking, and lost and gained thousands of meters of elevation. We have been on snow, hiked through rebuilt villages that lost buildings in the 2015 earthquakes, and seen the Big Dipper and the Milky… Read More

Neem, totle, tulsi, nettle, kalturda, bojho, sage, chili peppers, canabis, rudilo, titepate, tobacco, bhogote, gandepate, sarifa, barbari, ginger — each of these plants can be found within a twenty minute walk from the community center in Koshi. On their own they serve different purposes: smoke from bojho is inhaled to cure tooth and throat pains; rudilo is used to deter fungus from growing on plants and can be ingested when someone is experiencing hemorrhaging; in the case of dysentery or gastric issues, one can harvest the seeds from bhogote and cook them down into a tea. Separately each of these plants can help to heal. Together,… Read More