NAFA has a vibrant community of members and supporters. Their dedication to improving the lives of disadvantaged communities in Nepal and their adventurous spirits make for interesting stories and experiences. Many have lived remarkable and inspirational lives, coloured by travels around the world and, of course, numerous visits to Nepal. A few NAFA members have been motivated to record and publish what they have learnt from their interactions with Nepal or their broader experiences from the world and their own lives.

Dr Deborah Setterlund … NAFA Research & Evaluation Officer

“In a cluster of remote Tamang villages in the north Dhading District of Nepal, local leaders were worried local history was being lost. Having worked in the area with husband Rod for 15 years as members of the Nepal Australia Friendship Association, Dr Deborah Setterlund (OAM) offered to collect stories from Tamang elders and write an oral history – funding the project herself.

Deborah soon realised that much of Tamang history has been lost, and what remains tends to focus on the group’s deficits – mired in poverty and noted largely as porters. However, what she found in the elders’ stories was a chain of community-based strengths extending back to migration from Tibet, survival as semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers and, finally, existence as subsistence farmers. Elders recalled their approaches to healing, education, religion and farming, and told of their determination to help themselves in the face of discrimination and lack of government assistance.

Placing the villagers’ stories at the centre of the book, Deborah brings to life the rich history of the area and sets it in the context of relevant research and literature. This book challenges the negative stereotypes of Tamangs, telling the story of a strong, egalitarian people with an inspirational belief that, ultimately, their future is in their own hands.

If you are interested in hidden histories, stories of survival and resilience, and the contribution of ethnic groups to Nepali history you should enjoy this book. The book should be of interest to individuals from groups other than Tamang, as they are likely to find similarities to their own local histories.“

Author: Dr Deborah Setterlund

In-country Advisor: Mlang Dong Tamang (Chandra)

Cost of Book $15 – English Version. Postage can be arranged for $20

EMAIL: setterlund@hotmail.com PHONE: +61 (0)414 107 161

This book will be available in Nepali Script in Early March 2025 (translated by Dr Keshab Sharma). Please contact Deborah if you would like to order the Nepali version.

All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the Tawal Area Villages Development Projects.

Rod Setterlund OAM … President of NAFA

Village Development in Nepal

“Set over a 20-year period in the hilly region northwest of Kathmandu, the book is a case study of a group of villagers that tells the very personal story of the Tamang people living in the remote village of Tawal in the Dhading district. It gives them a voice in a development partnership Brisbane-based Nepal Australia Friendship Association (NAFA) that has helped them triumph over a long history of political neglect and social discrimination, a 10-year civil war and a devastating earthquake.

No Mountain Too High is also my wife Deborah and my personal story as volunteers with NAFA for the past 22 years: the highs and lows, success factors and challenges in adopting a community and market-system approach to the development partnership. I believe that community development aid takes more than good intentions. Good development aid requires approaches that come from sound practice frameworks and reflect true partnerships with those who benefit. No Mountain Too High is a guide to achieving positive change through community and market approaches to development. These approaches are detailed in the book, as are our personal reflections on success factors and challenges that remain.”

“No Mountain Too High” is available from the author at $28 plus postage.

If you would like to get your own copy of Rod’s book, please contact him directly via email at setterlund@hotmail.com

$5 from each book sold will be donated to NAFA

Stewart Jones .. longterm member of the NAFA Management Committee.

“Stewart has been an active member of the NAFA Management Committee for more than twenty years. During that time he has consistently played a major role in every aspect of program and project development and can always be relied on to provide insight and guidance to navigating the complexities of government policy. Stewart’s efforts and contribution to numerous fund raising activities for projects in Nepal. were formally recognised in 2015 when he was presented with a Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) Community Award.

Stewart was born with a degenerative eye disease that has continued to worsen throughout his life to the point where he became legally blind. There was another major setback in his childhood when his Mother died when he was just a toddler. From then on he was shunted from one guardian to another, and from one school to another.

But Stewart wasn’t going to be defined by setbacks. A positive attitude, a spirit for adventure and a desire to make his own way took him on an extraordinary journey through youth and into adulthood. Rafting the Franklin River in Tasmania, trekking in remote areas of the Himalayas and swimming off the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia are just a few of his escapades. His story will take you on a wild ride. It is written from the heart and an inspirational read.”

“Nobody Told Me I was Blind” is available at $30 plus $10 postage (within Australia).

If you would like to get your own copy of Stewart’s autobiography, please contact him directly via email at debstewie@bigpond.com

$5 from each book sold will be donated to NAFA

Rick Parkes … Adventurer & longterm NAFA supporter & Committee Member.

Overland Journeys .. in the early ’70s

“This was an interesting time with many changes going on, many of the travellers being born at the end of the Second World War and others post-war baby boomers. We had moved though rock and roll, Dylan, Beatles, Hippies, the racial changes in the US, cold war and still had the war in Vietnam, which most of us were against.

What made us take an overland journey from Europe to Kathmandu? It could be said it was the forerunner of the backpacker travel movement now a ‘right of passage’ for young people today. For many of us it was travel to the unknown an adventure, plus an escape from conformity.

My first trip was with Frontier International an adventure company in 1970, arriving in Australia in December. After nine months in Australia, I joined Escape Routes as a driver courier and completed two further trips one all the way from London to Kathmandu and return, the other being interrupted by the Pakistan – India border skirmish which meant we only managed to get the vehicles to Afghanistan. Our final return was a great trip but full of anxiety due to Escape Routes running out of cash.

Over this two-year period, I met many interesting people and have since had reunions with travellers; the best being a 25th Anniversary when twenty plus turned up. Since then, we have had our 50th anniversary.

This story gives you a feel of the trip and includes old photos taken at the time which is not as sophisticated as albums produced from digital cameras of today. The grainy and sometimes far from fully focused photos give you a feel of the seventies and type of travel experienced.

This was the start of my love affair with Nepal and I returned with my wife Sue in the nineties trekking and climbing. At this time I also became involved with NAFA and their charity works; and more recently joined the management committee. In 2017 and 2019 I visited the Tawal villages and other charity programs in Kathmandu. The epilogue of this story refers specifically to Nepal and NAFA.”

You can buy a copy of “The Overlanders” for $35 plus postage.

If you would like to get your own copy, please contact Rick directly by email at rickconcrete.parkes@gmail.com

$5 from each book sold will be donated to NAFA