The 108 Lives Project was brought to life by Hector Marcel an international change management consultant & Tibetan Buddhist teacher based in New York City.

A team of young social entrepreneur leaders have come together to combine community energies, and travel to Nepal in 2012 to offer paid education, housing, food, shelter and medical help for the 108 people Hector encountered living on the streets of Nepal.

This experiment in unconditional giving will be the focus of a documentary to capture what happens when a group of people decide to act with purpose in the world. We hope that our story ignites a fire in your heart that leads you onto your very own Hero's Journey.

Whilst traveling Nepal in 2008, Hector caught site of one man who changed the course of his day and the years to follow.

Hector tells of the moment when the 108 Lives Project actually began; "I was heading to my favorite coffee shop, like I did every morning; on the way trying not to engage with the sea of people begging in Boudha, just outside Kathmandu. In fact I had made an art of not engaging with the reality on the streets of Kathmandu and of every city I had ever visited around the world; homeless people, broken people, struggling people begging for help. As I turned the corner, I caught site of a person hunched over to one side, trying to walk, half of his face had been melted and fused to his right shoulder, his neck permanently cocked to the right, his eye pulled down tight exposing raw flesh, his mouth outstretched like a permanent scream pulling towards his shoulder, teeth exposed."

"Our eyes locked for an instant and I felt something sinking inside of me. Somewhere in that disfigured body was a life like mine, we were ultimately the same, wanted the same, but we weren't living the same. This moment shifted something deep in my heart. I wanted to do something immediately; anything to help him. Very quickly I saw my limitations, I wasn't a surgeon, I would not have enough money to pay for an operation, I couldn't even speak his language. But I could tell his story and take some pictures to inspire others, whose lives are as fortunate as mine, in hopes that together we could help this one man. I ran home for my camera."

"When I returned he was gone. I described the man to a nearby beggar and asked if they'd seen him before, they said the man was a 'new beggar' but didn't know where to find him. I asked another beggar and then another, no one knew him, but they were eager to help me, more eager than I had been to help them. I asked if I could interview them and take their pictures in exchange for food, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste... I would retell their stories and if I found others who also wanted to help, then I would return. One by one 108 agreed."

Three years later, Hector's path crossed a group of young people in New York City. Deeply moved by the story, though never having encountered any of the 108 beggars, the group began an experiment in unconditional giving and the 108 Lives Project was born.

Our mission is simple:

• Raise funds and awareness to give medical care, food, shelter and education to the 108 lives in Nepal.
• Build and share social entrepreneur skills, resources and tools for others who want to help people in need in their communities.

Our philosophy is simple:

• If I can help a single life halfway across the world, I can help anyone in need. From a stranger in Nepal to my sister and my brother. From the other side of the globe to my own city or my neighborhood.
• If I can help just one, I have made a difference. If I can help 108, and in so doing inspire others to reach out to another 108, and so on and so on; then the world can truly change in an instant.