It was exactly a year ago today, November 9, 2007, that Leah and I were nearing the end of our three week trek in the Himalaya in Nepal. Leah made the above photograph that day in the tiny village of Monjo. I like the exuberance of the boy in Leah’s photo and the idea that the girl with the toy camera is turning the photographic tables on the tourists who pass by, we trekkers who are looking-looking, and snapping.
Several weeks ago I finished reading the book “Three Cups of Tea,” a real-life story about an American mountaineer who goes to Asia to attempt a climb of K2 in Pakistan. After what turns out to be failure to summit the mountain, Greg Mortenson wanders into a remote village near K2 and, eventually, formulates a plan to build a school for the children there.
This week I had a conversation with an American company that has a business relationship with Nepal. We are talking about ways the photographs Leah and I shot in Nepal might be used to give something back to the people of that country.
Here’s a link to the work being done by “Three Cups of Tea”
http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
