When Basa Village Foundation President, philanthropist and author Jeff Rasley first began trekking in Nepal, his perspective changed radically.

While climbing the Himalayan mountains as an adventure, he fell in love with the Rai people, in Nepal’s remote mountain village of Basa. Their kindness, spirituality and openness were a refreshing change from Western culture. And their way of life was exactly as it had been, for five hundred years.

But then, friends in the area requested help in upgrading Basa village’s school.

How, Jeff wondered, could he fulfill the request without obliterating a culture that had existed for centuries?

“What can we give to Basa that it really needs (without destroying the culture by Westernizing it)?” he asks, in his book Bringing Progress to Paradise: How I Changed Nepal, How Nepal Changed Me.

The answer was the catalyst for the creation of nonprofit Basa Village Foundation.

Listening to the village

Since that initial request, Jeff, and the Foundation, have implemented multiple projects geared towards health, education and a better standard of living in Basa village. But, Jeff explains, every project must first be requested by the villagers.

Then, he continues, implementation of the project involves the whole community.

Jeff, who coordinates trekking and mountaineering expeditions through award-winning Nepal travel agency Adventure Geo Treks, explains that he has returned, five times, to Basa. While there, he will inspect the projects and ask the villagers’ opinions of the way these projects are affecting their lives.

So far, those projects have included upgrading the school, bringing electricity to the village, and a new agricultural and animal husbandry cooperative.

A full creative schedule

Meanwhile, as covered in our previous interview, when Jeff is in his home state of Indiana, he serves as President of nonprofit Scientech Foundation of Indiana, which supports STEM and STEAM education through grants.

A prolific author, Jeff has written 18 books so far. His extensive travels, his experience as a legal professional and his perspectives on history and spirituality are all reflected in his books.

Jeff talked about the creation of the Basa Village Foundation, offered a closer look at the projects they’ve implemented in the village, and discussed some of the activities of the Scientech Foundation of Indiana.

On this edition of Over Coffee®we cover:

• Jeff’s memories of his first visit to Basa Village in 2008;

• How Basa Village Foundation navigated the challenge of giving villagers the improvements they’d requested while respecting their culture;

• Some of the requests the villagers made, and the process of implementing them;

• What Jeff saw, on his return trips to Basa;

• One of the most controversial projects on which the Basa Village Foundation was working–and the reason behind that controversy;

• How projects are approved;

• The current economic project in progress;

• How to support the Basa Village Foundation;

• How Jeff has grown from his work in Basa;

• What’s currently happening with Scientech Foundation of Indiana;

• Some of the cool STEAM projects their grants are supporting!;

• How to support the Scientech Foundation;

• The funniest robotics project Jeff saw, among the work of the grant recipients.