OuR PEOPLE

wendy moore OAM

Program Coordinator

Wendy’s passion for Nepal began in 1975 when her intrepid parents took the family trekking. She felt immediately at home there and that feeling has not changed in over 30 trips. In 2007 Wendy and her husband, Malcolm, moved to Nepal where they lived for four years. While Wendy was making earrings on a sunny verandah in Dharan she met Kopila Basnet. Kopila asked if Wendy could train some women she was working with so that they could earn an income. The rest…as they say…is history! Wendy was founding president of this Australian organisation, Samunnat Inc. Her relationship with the women of Samunnat Nepal has grown and deepened as mentor, teacher, supporter and friend. Wendy travels to Nepal twice a year (in non-pandemic years!!) and spends a couple of months living and working with the women. She was awarded an OAM in 2020 for her work in Nepal. She just feels lucky that she was in the right place (aforementioned sunny verandah) at the right time (when Kopila wandered out).

malcolm moore

President/Secretary

Malcolm has been connected to Nepal since he trekked there at the age of 19. His wife, Wendy, had strong links with Nepal and the whole family visited there in 1998. After several more visits he and Wendy moved to eastern Nepal in 2007, staying for four years. Malcolm worked on the faculty of a teaching hospital. The link with Samunnat Nepal grew during this time. He was very keen that this involvement didn’t turn into another failure by well-meaning Westerners. He was won over by the passion and commitment of the Nepalese women and men working in the NGO: and by the resilience and capacity of the women they were resourcing. Since re-settling in Australia in 2011 his links to Nepal have continued.

He is continually inspired by the stories of the Nepalese women and their communities and by the enormous challenges that confront them.

Les higgins

Treasurer

For Les, serving as Honorary Treasurer of Samunnat Inc. is just a small token of his great affection for Nepal and its people.He has visited the country numerous times to trek and to spend time with his Nepali friends and family. Trekking, along with bushwalking, gardening and rowing, has made Les a deeply nature-connected person. He co-authored an interpretive guidebook covering bush walks in the Sydney region and has spent the last 20 years studying and writing about the impact of nature on human happiness, well-being and health. Les feels immensely privileged to be associated with Wendy, Mal, Kopila and the inspiring Samunnat enterprise.

Cathy bucolo

Vice-President

Cathy has been a Samunnat supporter from the early days, and was lucky enough to meet the women in 2011. She felt an immediate connection with them that continues to stand the test of time and distance. Cathy has participated in a range of activities in Nepal- rehabilitation, trekking, supporting a home for children and being a co-leader for an Australian outdoor education high school trip. She has made beautiful friends for life in Nepal and is continually thinking of how to introduce Nepal to anyone and everyone who will listen. With a background in speech pathology, disability, housing, advocacy, health and justice, Cathy tries to translate those skills into any activities that can achieve equity for the women of Samunnat and of Nepal.

KaTE ROTHERHAM

Committee member

Kate Rotherham is a social worker and a writer who fell in love with Nepal when she trekked to the base of Sagarmatha (Everest) as a teenager. Kate has enjoyed a long and happy role as cheerleader (without the leotard or pom poms) for Samunnat and hopes to share a dahl baht with her Samunnat Nepal friends in person one day. The courage, resilence and creativity of the Samunnat women inspire her greatly.

Christina vett

Committee member

Christina (CV) was born in Sydney, travelled extensively, and has lived in Canberra, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Tabuk and Abu Dhabi.

She strives to find the good in everything that crosses her path. She is in awe of people who can inspire and create. But above all, she is very good at organising. In fact, she organised her husband to write this biography.

Generous, wise, true to herself and others, she believes that warm heart, compassion and generosity are at the core or being a person of worth. And that is why she is honoured to be a member of the Samunnat committee.