We discovered children’s story books are like special keys opening minds to the rest of the world; expanding courage and curiosity.
— Jessica Ellis Shaye

Has a book ever inspired you to do something out of the ordinary? For us, the children’s book called "Zak The Yak" encouraged us to go to Nepal, locate, buy and box about 400 pounds of various Nepali, Tibetan and English children's books and trek them up to remote schools near Mount Everest. We traveled for five days along bumpy narrow mountain paths until the vehicle couldn't go any further. The next ten days we walked alongside our Sherpa friends and four yak hybrids as they carried the boxes of books up to 13,000 feet. Our little ones helped stock library shelves of many schools and monasteries. Students were excited to get 'outer knowledge' as they called it. Some headmasters said they hadn't received story books in more than ten years.

We didn’t just give books, we learned a lot from the people of Nepal too.

We made this video to share our experience.

“The experience helped us understand and appreciate what it is like growing up in the Himalayas. How challenging the land makes life but also how meaningful.” — Jessica Ellis Shaye