franceslk
Bio: Frances is at home in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalaya. After a degree in biology, she worked for the Canadian Parks Service for seven years. She first came to Nepal to trek, but the people and cultures of this diverse land became her reason for staying in Nepal, much of it in the Everest and Makalu areas. All of this work has utilized her skills in writing, photography, and interviewing for oral history, and her knowledge of natural history and Himalayan cultures. From 1983 to 89, Frances lived in the Khumbu to create a museum of Sherpa culture at Tengboche Monastery. She also worked with a project in the Makalu area until 1998, when she started a publishing company, Mera Publications. Frances has had several exhibitions of her photographs on Sherpa culture. The Nepal edition of her book, Gaiety of Spirit, was released in 2009, and the Canadian edition in 2010. She has worked extensively for a variety of development organizations, mostly documenting the good practices and results of programs. During the work for development projects and fund-raising for various worthy causes, she started wondering how to help those left our from conventional assistance. In 2005, she co-founded a non-profit organization, CORE International to pursue this quest. http://www.core-international.org
franceslk 