My brother, an attorney in Washington D.C., recommended this book to me over a year ago. The recommendation came with the book - and it has remained on my shelf at home until today.
John Wood recalls his first trip to Nepal - a three week vacation which was planned after seven years of high level executive work at Microsoft in the 1990's. He recalls meeting Pasupathi, the District resource person for Lamjung Province. Pasupathi "was responsible for finding resources for the 17 schools in this rural province." (Page 4)
"Some days I am very sad for my country. I want the children to get a good education, but I am failing them," Pasupathi says. (Page 5)
This conversation took place the first evening John arrived in Nepal and since Pasupathi was going to hike up to a local school the next morning, he invites John to tag along. John willingly accepts - as he was going to spend three weeks hiking anyway.
At 7:00AM the next morning John and Pasupathi head off. Upon meeting the headmaster they head on a "tour." "There were 70 [students] in a room that looked as though its capacity was half that. The floor was packed earth, and the sheet-metal roof intensified the late-morning springtime sun, baking the room. The children sat on rows of long benches, crammed close together. ...they balanced notebooks on bony, little knees." (Page 8-9)
"The headmaster next took us to the school's library. A sign outside the door proudly announced SCHOOL LIBRARY, but inside, the room was empty and the only thing covering the walls was one old, dog eared world map. The books were noticeable only in their absence." (Page 9)
After the visit at the school, the headmaster said the words that would launch John into a Entreprenueurial Odyssey.
John Wood recalls his first trip to Nepal - a three week vacation which was planned after seven years of high level executive work at Microsoft in the 1990's. He recalls meeting Pasupathi, the District resource person for Lamjung Province. Pasupathi "was responsible for finding resources for the 17 schools in this rural province." (Page 4)
"Some days I am very sad for my country. I want the children to get a good education, but I am failing them," Pasupathi says. (Page 5)
This conversation took place the first evening John arrived in Nepal and since Pasupathi was going to hike up to a local school the next morning, he invites John to tag along. John willingly accepts - as he was going to spend three weeks hiking anyway.
At 7:00AM the next morning John and Pasupathi head off. Upon meeting the headmaster they head on a "tour." "There were 70 [students] in a room that looked as though its capacity was half that. The floor was packed earth, and the sheet-metal roof intensified the late-morning springtime sun, baking the room. The children sat on rows of long benches, crammed close together. ...they balanced notebooks on bony, little knees." (Page 8-9)
"The headmaster next took us to the school's library. A sign outside the door proudly announced SCHOOL LIBRARY, but inside, the room was empty and the only thing covering the walls was one old, dog eared world map. The books were noticeable only in their absence." (Page 9)
After the visit at the school, the headmaster said the words that would launch John into a Entreprenueurial Odyssey.
John is touched by this and he scripts an email to family and friends to get started in his quest for sending books to this particular school in Nepal. The email is included in the book. Through the email we learn that the "collection" center is his father's home in Colorado (John currently lives in Sydney, Australia). He suggests people send books for school age children to his father's home and include funds for shipping if they can manage.
Meanwhile, back in the real world (as is the one that was paying his bills that day), John has been asked to be second in command to lead the expansion of Microsoft into China. He and his girlfriend Sophie, who is a successful quad-lingual marketing professional, move to China. The polluted air and lack of open space make John miss Sydney and the US where he grew up. The pollution and lack of open space are in stark contrast to Nepal. He can't get Nepal off of his mind.
John gets word from his father in Colorado that over 3000 books have arrived - and more importantly that his original email has been forwarded over and over - and that friends of friends are contributing books and the costs for shipping. John and his father plan trip to deliver the books to several schools in Nepal a few months later (books travel UPS, they travel business class). The books are well received and the feeling is something which not only resonates with John but also begs repeating.
John feels this - he is instantly passionate about it. He brings this up to his girlfriend, Sophie, and the conversation does not go well. She is a luxury-vacation-type, not a hiking-backwoods-type. We'll have to wait and see what happens here...
John is in the midst of coordinating Bill Gates' arrival to China when we leave him at page 50. All hands are on deck for the man whose wealth is equal to annual earnings of 83 million Chinese citizens.
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