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March 28, 2025

My First Ganeshee Nepal Trip

by Kira Attwood
Ganesh Himal Trading

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It was a bit of a whirlwind, with plans finalized around Christmas and my son, Owen, deciding he actually did want to come just days before that, but such is life here at Ganesh Himal Trading!  We boarded the plane on January 23rd just two days after Owen’s 16th birthday.  This was my 3rd trip to Nepal, but my first as a “Ganeshie,” as the employees of Ganesh Himal Trading call ourselves.  Although I had some idea of what I was jumping into from my previous trip two years before, this trip proved to be completely unique.  Arriving in Kathmandu on Saturday morning, after the grueling, sleepless flights, we headed straight to Swayambu to offer our prayers to the ancient holy place.  

Being back in Kathmandu felt a little bit like what I imagine my dog Marcus feels like after jumping in the ice-cold lake and then shaking furiously: exhilarating, discombobulating, and magical all at once.  It only takes a moment and that shake is like a neurological wake up, “yes, ok, here I am, I’ve got this!” Cars and scooties whiz by, the narrow streets are packed with people, carts, dogs, chickens, and electrical wires hang down everywhere.  It takes amazing courage for me to even get across the street because Nepali drivers don’t believe that you’re actually crossing until you’re in the middle of traffic.  Then they’ll slow down and somehow you make it to the other side, but each crossing feels like a near-death experience.  I’m a toddler again, relying on the guidance of Denise, Chunta, Pradeep and all of the other sweet angels we encounter, to literally do anything; it’s extremely humbling.  I thought so much of my former Grant Elementary immigrant and refugee students and their families.  To parent in an unfamiliar culture where you feel like a toddler yourself, requires an uncomfortable level of trust, yet somehow they move forward.  They inspire me. 

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We visited between 10-15 producer groups during our two and a half week trip, and it was incredible to see the process that each product goes through from start to finish.  With over 1,000 different products, I really gained an appreciation for all of the work that’s been put into each of the items we ship out every day.  Denise is a creative mastermind, and it was so fun to see the ideas flow between her, Chunta, and all the different artisans.  We enjoyed countless cups of tea and delicious plates of dal bhaat while brainstorming!  One of my favorite product development stories comes from a felting group called CBA.  This is an amazing group of women who do both needle and wet felting.  They make many of our beautiful pot holders, oven mitts, and dryer balls.  Austin had shared an idea for a felted wool dish scrubber, so we were brainstorming what that might look like and one of the felters, Geeta, was making a prototype.  Denise saw an old, plastic onion bag in the area and said “Oh wouldn’t it be fun if we could recycle these and use them to add some texture to the scrubbers!”  I thought it was a great idea to help get the tough, chunky stuff off dirty dishes.  The CBA felters thought we were a little off our rockers, but they agreed to give it a try.  Well, the plastic was a fail because it just got shredded in the felting process, but this is such a good example of the organic process each product goes through on its journey to our shelves. Instead of the plastic, Suluchana found a burlap bag that the felt arrives in, and Geeta tried wet felting that into the scrubber, which worked! So, when you place your order for the round felted dish scrubbers with burlap, you can picture Denise, Chunta, Geeta and I huddled over the wet, soapy blob nurturing it into a real life product!

I have so much more to learn as I head out on this Ganesh Himal Trading path, but this trip to Nepal was an amazing, inspiring experience.  I love the people we work with in Nepal and here in the US, and I’m excited to be part of this incredible team! 

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