We're going to Nepal.

On April 24, World Next Door managers Nathan and Jency Shirai will leave for India and Nepal for 3 weeks.

This will be our second foray into the "field," the first being Will and Kim's trip to Ecuador last year. We're very excited to be able to pursue fair trade opportunities through contacts we've made in that part of the world over the last year.

In India we'll spend several days in Kolkata visiting fair trade organizations with whom World Next Door currently does business. We do this with the intent to learn more about how fair trade works at producer's level, knowledge we hope to put to use in the future as World Next Door moves toward its long term goal of engaging in fair trade directly.

In Nepal we'll spend a week investigating a ministry that has potential to become a great partnership. We'll spend another week or so following up on some contacts we've made here and there over the last several months. We hope to bring back lots of great stories, pictures, and products, so stay tuned over the next two months!