Hopeful Steps

Have you ever considered moving to an impoverished country to do volunteer work with the locals? Author Nicolette Uma Smith and her husband did just that, joining a charitable organization in Guyana, South America. We learn about the country and the living experience. We are also introduced to many beautiful souls and begin to understand their lifestyles.
Part travelogue, part guide to the difficulties and rewards of volunteering overseas, Hopeful Steps presents a collection of vignettes such as "The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Riding a Bike in Georgetown" and "Being a Yogi in Guyana". Step inside these pages to gain insights about living and working in a different culture. Written with an occasional humorous touch, these thirty-six essays include biographies of four remarkable Guyanese women, as well as some historical background. The many pictures enhance the text.

Nicolette Uma Smith loves living on a hillside with the lake in front and trees all around, and is lucky enough to be able to do that both at her home in Ontario and during the time she is able to spend at Yasodhara Ashram in BC. Both places inspire her love of writing and her joy in exploring the great outdoors by bike, boat and boot.
Married with three children, Uma also loves to travel. Even more when it involves her other love, volunteering. The two years she and her husband spent doing that in Guyana South America, was the inspiration for her first book, Hopeful Steps.