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Founder - Shelley Snow
My first trip to South East Asia was in Oct of 2005. At the age of 35 I quit my waitressing job and made the choice to backpack accross India for 5 months. It still remains the bravest choice I have ever made and was one of the high water marks of my life. At the end, I decided to fly from New Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal and when I arrived at Tribhuvan airport I knew that I had arrived 'home'. I had found my Tribe, my people, my passion, my heart. When I flew back to Canada one month later I had only one focus - to figure out how I could return to Nepal.
For a few years I returned South East Asia to volunteer teaching English and also to volunteer for a wonderful Canadian-Nepalese charity operated by a good friend David Walton called WELNepal. But eventually I realised that I needed to do more. But what?
Nepal is one the poorest countires in the world...and more than anything else I wanted to contribute to helping women and girls to have more options, more choices to determine the path of their own lives. In 2014 She Sells Sanctuary was born. This was the first time I sought out fair trade local grassroots organizations that made beautiful handicrafts, I bought my white tent and joined my first Toronto Artisan Market.
This business has been nothing less than a labour of love. Thank you for your continued support!
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Some photos of my travels in Nepal
WELNEPAL - CANADIAN CHARITY FOUNDED BY DAVID WALTON
My time in Nepal always has a variety of elements. I spend a significant amount of time visiting the socially ethical suppliers I support while also seeking out new ones. For several years and ongoing I also volunteer for WELNepal, founded by my dear friend David Walton which is a Canadian registered charity 'Women's Education and Literacy in Nepal'.
WELNepal works with a local NGO in Nepal to better the lives of women through literacy, education and income generating programs. It is said that one learns to read so that one can read to learn. WELNepal provides bursaries for those young women who wish to continue their post secondary education, but whose parents either lack the funds or the desire to see their daughters educated. WELNepal provides small libraries to those groups who have attained literacy but lack access to books or journals or newspapers. WELNepal has been helping women to better their lives through literacy, education and organization for the past 30 years. WELNepal's representatives visit the projects every year. ALL expenses are paid for by the representative, so more money is available for those projects that the women's groups in Nepal so desperately need. For more information or to make a donation please visit : https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/welnepal/
