• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: HCI | October 6, 2015
Synopsis:
Katrell Christie never intended to visit India. In fact, her ideal vacation was a tropical beach where she could relax with a margarita in her hand. But when this former art student turned roller-derby rebel met three teenage girls at a crowded Buddhist orphanage in Darjeeling, she knew she had to help. What started as a trip made on a whim would prove to be a life-altering experience that would change the fate of these lost girls.
In her new book, Tiger Heart: My Unexpected Adventures to Make a Difference in Darjeeling and What I Learned About Fate, Fortitude, and Finding Family Half a World Away (October 2015), Katrell tells her remarkable story – from her quirky Atlanta tea shop to her fight for her young scholars halfway around the globe. Two scholars in the program are set to graduate from college and move on to pursue advanced degrees.
Most of the girls Katrell met in India faced grim futures as laborers or domestic servants. Some might have been relegated to lives of sexual exploitation. For them, she founded The Learning Tea, which has offered scholarships to 15 young women in Darjeeling, providing them with tuition, housing, clothing and medical care.
Katrell has us sipping tea with her at roadside tea huts, tasting hot samosas, dodging feral monkeys, and roaming the chaotic streets of Mumbai. The smells of small villages waft from the pages as we accompany her on her riveting and sometimes hilarious adventures across the globe in her mission to empower the young women who have become a part of her family. Join us in experiencing then sharing the inspiring story of one woman and her mission to make a difference through the power of educating girls.
Cove Member Cheryl Reviews—
TIGER HEART!
Tiger Heart by Katrell Christie & Shannon McCaffrey was a very daring book to read.
Katrell finds herself doing many odd jobs and having an equally odd lifestyle. She has many multi-faceted friends, and it just appears that she enjoys her life to the fullest.
After buying a tea shop and working her tail off, she finds herself taking a vacation to India, of all the places she could go to. She meets three orphaned young girls in an orphanage and finds out they will be put out onto the streets when they turn 17. They would live on the streets and will probably become beggars or prostitutes and Katrell feels a need to help them.
She returns to America and begins to explain to friends and customers about the girls and how she wants to find a place for them in the world by giving them a home and scholarships to higher education. She plans dinner parties once a month to raise money. The dinners are authentic Indian vegetarian food at $20 a person, she put a fishbowl on her counter for any change customers can spare.
She returns to Darjeeling, India and sets up a home for these girls. These girls are very surprised that she did return as promised. She visits and purchases her tea from the farms of Darjeeling and even begins selling her tea online with all proceeds going to the orphans. She names her project The Learning Tea. Many friends will join her over the years to see her and to meet these young ladies; and to get a chance to see the real India, not the 4-star motel India. They will work with Katrell on these jaunts every 6 months in India, and together they share many adventures.
Katrell Christie writes a good memoir, sharing enough about her experiences without appalling the reader, while being light-hearted at the same time. I enjoyed reading this book and I will be going onto Facebook to follow Katrell's charity and her tea shop, Dr. Bombay's.
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Katrell Christie is the founder and owner of The Learning Tea, a project which provides schooling and a safe haven for impoverished young women in India. Through her efforts with The Learning Tea, Ms. Christie has changed the lives of many women living in Darjeeling, India. Visit TheLearningTea.com for more information.
Shannon McCaffrey is an award-winning reporter focusing on investigative stories for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.She is an avid reader, a mother, and a runner.
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