Sharon Sitling

Sharon was born in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in India. She was raised there and it was only after high school that she moved to a place called Santiniketan near the city of Kolkata for her college education. The college was an international university, coming from a small himalayan hill town and suddenly being exposed to people from not just all over India but the world. People with different ideas and experiences blew her mind. She got a bachelors degree in Literature there and was working on her final paper for her master’s degree when she had to move to Boulder in 2003. She lived in Colorado for 10 plus years and says that this move was personally very transformational for her. It was then that she saw and wanted to understand more in depth the cultural aspects of the East and the West. This encouraged her to work more towards bridging the gap, and to raise a cross cultural son. She relocated back to India in 2013 and ran a trek company. She is a part-time farmer and has independently taken initiative to raise awareness among local farmers about fair trade and organic sustainable farming. Sharon believes strongly in the idea that every human has the right to basic healthcare, shelter and food. This passion has resulted in her working with the Mayal Lyang Lepcha Development Board, Kalimpong, conducting surveys in remote villages and providing assistance. End of this December and early January she will be actively involved in helping run a seed saving program in 3 villages around the area where she lives. She is passionate about the environment, her family, community, ayurveda/naturopathy and cooking.