About a month ago I got the opportunity to be part of Maggie Doyne’s Kathmandu book launch. Titled “Between the Mountain and the Sky: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, Healing, and Hope”, the book was published in America and Europe in 2022 and finally made its way to Nepal in April last month. Just a day before the Kathmandu launch, Maggie and team delivered a beautiful launch event in Surkhet. That is where it all started.
If you’ve been keeping up with my social media posts over the past ten+ years, then you will probably have seen my shares on the work led by Maggie and team via Kopila Valley and BlinkNow. Ever since my early days as a teen blogger, I’ve been following Maggie and the work championed by her team in Surkhet. It was a no-brainer to be part of this event. After all, we did have a virtual Instagram Live chat in the earlier period of Covid.
The landscape of doing good, non-profit work and being a visible person has rapidly changed if you compare now 2023 to 2010-12. New words have been added to the dictionary and a lot of us are learning more now than ever about privilege, intersectionality, race and access. Some of us may have grown up being taught about equality but learning about equity makes all the difference. Many of these themes may have always been there and discussed in academia but the events over the past few years and Instagram activism has helped millions more learn through a swipe/scroll.
I was very keen to read Maggie’s book especially at a time when all this is unravelling; when saviour mentality is being questioned. White saviour specifically. Without sharing too much about the content of the book, I was thoroughly impressed to read the story of an individual who was so self-aware, conscious about their position, space and what they occupy. The thoughts and loose questions I had on the back of my head were answered as I turned each page of the book.
Our public conversation during the book launch felt smooth… well as smooth as these events can go. A part of me will always be a huge fan of the many people I’ve blogged and shared about and I had a few seconds there too. I’m really here sat next to someone who has arguably inspired, encouraged and driven so many people to do something – now that, is something. The entire venue, with all 300 or so people, radiated so much “let’s get it done” energy.
Between the Mountain and the Sky is a read that encourages you to believe! Sometimes it’s not about waiting for the army to arrive but recognizing that one lone soldier can also make that start before the others arrive. Over the years Maggie has been that person to so many of us.
Thank you for writing.
PHOTOS BY AYLA MAAGDENBERG
