Visiting USAID’s Administrator Samantha Power has joined a run with Mira Rai, a former child soldier and world champion trail runner, on Wednesday.
USAID head Power, who arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday on a two-day visit to Nepal, joined Rai on a trail race to Shivapuri, a few kilometers north of Kathmandu.
“Just finished a run I won’t soon forget on the forested trails of Nepal with has joined a run with Mira a former child soldier & world champion trail runner Rai,” she tweeted, “These trails are just part of Nepal’s sustainable tourism industry that @USAID is proud to support.”
She covered a distance of two kilometers starting Janajagriti School of Shivapuri to Kapan monastery with ultra marathoner Rai along with the other runners.
During the race, Rai shared with Samantha the differences between flight running and trail mountain running. There was also a discussion about how local tourism can be promoted. Mira Rai Initiative is organizing Stupa Race on February 18. Meera is now busy preparing for it. Stupa Race will start from Swayambhu and end at Shivpuri Park.
Samantha held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel this morning. Samantha reached the Finance Ministry at Singha Durbar to meet with the Finance Minister this morning.
During the meeting, she stressed Nepal's economy, the bilateral relations between Nepal and America, as well as the implementation of the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) project.
Earlier on Tuesday, Power also met with Foreign Minister Dr. Bimala Rai Paudyal and visited Adarsha Secondary School in Bhaktapur.
Samantha is scheduled to return home today itself after meeting President Bidya Bhandari and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Before returning home, she will hold a press conference at Hyatt Hotel at 5 pm.
Samantha visited Nepal less than a week after Victoria Nuland, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, returned from the Nepal visit.
