Erika Heads Home

After 5 months in Nepal, Erika is now heading back to Seattle to finally launch Global Daughter. This whole project could not have gotten off the ground without both of us living here and soaking up all the country has to offer. Her leap of faith to uproot and move here was both bold and courageous; I am so lucky to have such a strong and capable business partner. I couldn't imagine attempting this adventure with anyone else.

Living in Nepal and entrenching ourselves in the culture and the people can sometimes be exhausting. It is a beautiful thing, but when you are starting a business and you have to think like a businesswoman and not a global traveller, things get stressful. Business is conducted here in such an unusual and slow manner, everyday can be an exercise in stress management! We use only Nepali resources in everything we do to ensure this is a business and a social project, but sometimes it is so frustrating. It is hard to get people here to understand what we need and want. A language barrier exists in meetings and the mentality of some of our village-based artists is so different from anything we are used to. Getting everyone on the same page to get things done is, what they say in Nepal, "some process." Everyone experiences ups and downs when they first start a business. Finances, creative decisions, partnerships, plans and goals..it can get overwhelming for sure. But when you are working from the ground up in a least developed country like Nepal, the process puts even more pressure on you. It has been an amazing ride so far and we have learned to appreciate every angle of this thing.

While South East Asia is the fastest growing region in the world, Nepal is eeking by with a dismal economic growth rate. People are scared to invest in Nepal with its unstable government, stalled economy and corrupt business practices. The chances Global Daughter is taking here are great, but we are confident that our modest contribution will grow into an example of positive and socially responsible business in Nepal. Failure is impossible at this point. We have already seen with our own eyes the small impact our project has had. We are motivated to develop this no matter what is thrown our way. The implications of this business reach much further than an on-line transaction; many lives are improved and defined by the artist-consumer connection Global Daughter is creating.

When we started we knew it would be an experience like no other, that is why we try to take time to breathe everyday and remind ourselves that in the end, all the adversity will only make Global Daughter stronger. (Even if we feel like we are going to explode sometimes!)

So, Bye Bye to Erika! She will handle things on the Seattle front while I stay here to handle all the drama in Nepal. To make sure that we can deliver everything we promise in the business it is best that one of us is here and the other is back home. We will both be busy with different sides of the project, but we will no doubt reunite down the road when everything has been ironed out.

Through it all we have been so blessed. We believe that this place is magical and I hope that everyone who deals with Global Daughter feels the same way.

Women in Good Governance Staff- bye, bye!

Sad to say goodbye to the neighborhood kids

Little Aruna will miss you Erika sister