For Kathleen McCabe, of Valley Center, California, Nepal is much more than a destination. Since her first visit in 2019, Kathleen has made it her mission to help schoolchildren in Nepal, wherever, and whenever, possible. She first experienced Nepal as part of a “give back” tour in 2019, where she and three other travelers helped repaint and refurbish the Jana Jyoti Basic School in the village of Tore Pelney, near Pokhara. She’s been helping ever since.
Somewhere on a trail near Tengboche on her way to Everest Base Camp in 2021, she and friends Diane Savard, Montreal, Canada, and Adrienne Jessop, Bedford, England, learned from friend and guide Sarki Sherpa, that children in his home village of Patle, Okhaldhunga were in need of warm winter coats in order to get to school.
“We took this insight home with us, and started in to raise funds for Patle. I started the ‘Coats for Patle’ project as a fundraiser for my 64th birthday,” said Kathleen. “In our first grassroots efforts, we raised over $2000.”
With the contributions of two additional Nepali benefactors, and at the suggestion of school Principal Lapka Sherpa, we first purchased school uniforms for Patle schoolchildren in June 2022.
“Diane, Adrienne and I continued to raise funds, and in November, 2022, joined by friend Jenny DeLillio of San Diego, California, we flew to Nepal where we trekked in coats and warm hats and gloves for the 260 children in Patle, and another 200+ coats and uniforms for the children in the nearby villages of Talkot and Kartike.”
Kathleen is drawn to the Nepali people, and is is passionate about helping the children, especially in rural, underserved villages. She currently sponsors four children to attend private school to encourage their English language skills, and provides playground and sports equipment to two government schools outside Pokhara.
This year, Kathleen formed a U.S.-based non-profit (501-c-3) organization, Heartsteps Foundation, to help support additional projects in education, healthcare and sustainable farming in Nepal.
Kathleen also actively supports the culture and living history of Nepal, serving on the Advisory Board for Living Traditions Museum located in the temple complex at Changu Narayan. This cultural museum, established in 2008 by American Judith Conant Chase, highlights her collection of traditional tools, clothing, ceremonial implements, art, and furnishings, collected over her more than 50 years in Nepal.
Kathleen is the U.S. Advisor to registered Nepali NGO EcoHimal Nepal (EHN). Working with Executive Director Narayan Dhukal, she is pursuing grants to support EHN’s efforts in Nepal regarding bio-intensive farming, climate control, erosion, gender equality, and women’s empowerment. This year, she secured a grant for $5000 from Friends of Nepal (retired Peace Corps alumni). With these funds, a 10’ x 20’ greenhouse is currently being built at Chiwang Gompa, near Phaplu, Solu, Sagamartha, to provide organic produce for the 75 monks there, as well as surrounding villagers.
Kathleen continues to be an active and dedicated supporter of Everything Organic Nepal (EVON), an organic farm complex in Patlekhet, Kavre, whose mission it is to teach farming and tree propagation to enrich Nepal’s sustainable farming practices.
At the suggestion of Deep Deoja, Bishwa Seva Foundation, in March, 2023, Kathleen visited the Nava Ratna School in Panauti, along with friend Margaret Smith, Judith Conant Chase, EVON, Binod Puri, an EVON horticulturalist, and his daughter Sabina Puri, a student of noted bio-intensive farming expert John Jevons of California. Through this connection, Sabina is now employed to assist Bishwa Seva Foundation in implementing a successful student greenhouse project at Nava Ratna School, growing organic produce for the children’s school lunch program.
“I love everything about Nepal,” Kathleen said. “When I return to the U.S., I may be physically home, but my mind and heart are always with the children, and the friends, now family, that I’ve met there.”