Marion philanthropist embarks on 12th trip to Nepal
By MATT CAMARA
Sally Hunsdorfer is no stranger to the mountains of Nepal, having braved them 11 times to deliver thousands of fleece jackets over the years to some of that country's most remote villages.
But when she leaves for her 12th journey this September, Hunsdorfer is going somewhere she's a stranger — Tibet.
"I'm hoping we can get in," she told The Standard-Times Tuesday. "The Chinese close the border willy-nilly. If we can't get in, we have a 'Plan B.' There's always plenty of work to do in Nepal."
Hunsdorfer is the founder of the Himalayan Project, which attempts to promote development in Nepal without eroding the local culture. The project, founded in 2004, has provided thousands of fleece jackets to Nepalese villagers and has raised funds for a school in Chaurikharka — a village perched on a 10,000-foot-high mountainside. Hunsdorfer also travels to local grade and middle schools presenting "A Day in the Life of a Nepalese Child," a slide show designed to bring a bit of South Asia into American classrooms.
The project is a part of the Marion Institute, a Marion-based nonprofit that serves as an incubator for a number of cultural, environmental or charitable projects across the world.
After years of delivering jackets to Nepalese villages, however, Hunsdorfer is ready for the trek into Tibet — partly for her own spiritual enlightenment and partly because she feels the villagers of Tibet could use a few hundred fleece jackets.
Hunsdorfer never travels alone but rather arrives with an entire caravan of porters, pack animals and her own neighbors from the U.S. in tow when she reaches one of the isolated villages she delivers to.
"I remember hearing of her exploits when I met her back in the '90s," said Marion resident Anne T. Converse, who accompanied Hunsdorfer on one of her trips to Nepal in 2008. "We talked about me going with her at a Christmas party. ... After a couple glasses of wine, it sounded pretty good."
This year, Hunsdorfer has roped six friends into going, all women ranging in age from 58-72. The group will bring 500 jackets with them and will only visit the most remote villages where people "have never seen a Western face," she said.
"The people were absolutely some of the most generous I've ever met," Converse said of her experience in the villages.
Hunsdorfer's love affair with Nepal began 15 years ago, she said.
In 1997, Hunsdorfer and her husband, Peter Hunsdorfer, packed up their two teenage sons, closed their family business and took off on a trip around the world for a year that ended in a visit to Nepal.
"I had a visceral reaction to the mountains," Hunsdorfer said. "I fell to my knees and said 'I've come home.'"
source: southcoasttoday.com
Watch Sally Hunsdorfer talking about how the Himalayan Project came to life:
