It’s funny that I actually felt a little culture shocked in Seoul after coming from Kathmandu where I felt so comfortable. I was like a deer in headlights. I couldn’t figure out what to eat, where to go, what to do…and then we met up with my old roller derby pal who lives here and she showed us the way! It was so nice to have her with us to help us navigate and take us to the amazing shopping markets and help us communicate and eat. For our first day in Seoul we went to the Dragon Hill Spa, which is a Korean sauna/bath house. It was an interesting experience. Certain parts of the 7 floor building are separated by gender and the other floors, such as the salt saunas, pine wood rooms, pool, golf ... read more

I’m sitting in our hotel room in Pokhara that we nicknamed “The Treehouse” and it’s raining so hard that it sounds like thousands of stones are dropping on the roof. We have fallen asleep for the last two nights to this sound and somehow I actually like the noise. We had 3 days of “vacation” from training and it has been really great to get out of the pollution of Thamel in Kathmandu and breathe some fresh air, although I’m looking forward to getting back to Autism Care Nepal and the trainings. The first night in Pokhara we all let loose and went to a bar that had a Nepalese band playing American covers. We danced and sang and toasted and it was so much fun! I feel so fortunate to have met such wonderful people, ... read more

Knowledge for People (http://knowledgeforpeople.org) first went to Kathmandu to begin our work with Autism Care Nepal (ACN) in July 2009 and it was so wonderful to be reunited with the families again after two years! Of course, I started crying a few times, but I just couldn’t help it. Seeing their smiling faces brought about so much emotion…they are the reason we have been working so hard to prepare for this trip and to see them face-to-face brings it all to fruition. They deserve to have the knowledge that will help their children make progress. They deserve to have programs in their schools so that their children can learn even more. They deserve laws to protect their children. They deserve to have access to interventions for their children. They deserve to have their children accepted into ... read more

Proud, excited, relieved, overwhelmed, emotional, happy...these are all things I feel as I reflect on the 2009 Knowledge for People project (http://knowledgeforpeople.org) for Autism Care Nepal (http://autismnepal.org). I knew that we were going to make a difference, but I couldn't even begin to fathom how powerful this would turn out to be. When Tanya took the stage to give her presentation about parenting a child with autism, the packed room was listening intently. She began with, "My name is Tanya Savko and I am the mother of an autistic child. I am honored to be here to talk to you about my experience. I feel very emotional now; I have a tissue if I cry. Autism is not a tragedy--that is not why I would cry. I would cry because I feel a connection with you. ... read more

Hello! Having Knowledge for People work with Autism Care Nepal (ACN) and the families has been more amazing than we could have imagined! I tear up just thinking about it. The center is now jointly run by many parents, all who have a child with autism. ACN is completely funded by the parents. They have managed to rent a house for ACN for 12 months to start, but they are still in great need of trained therapists and supplies in general. I am so impressed with how far they have come, but there is a long way to go. I really wish Knowledge for People had more funds and we had more time and people to provide the extensive, intensive training they deserve. That is our future goal. We have found that parents are benefitting greatly ... read more