Francesca Cacace can honestly say she knows the story behind every single exotic bead, scarf and bangle on sale at the upcoming KatKids Christmas market.

Miss Cacace, KatKids Events Manager and Director, travelled to Nepal this summer, by herself, to buy products for the market that raises money for impoverished children in Nepal. “The experience was humbling,” said Miss Cacace. “It was my first trip to Nepal, but I felt like I had been there before. I felt so connected to the people I met. It was very easy for me to talk to people. This market will be about telling the story of the products and their makers. Before I went, I knew the brief story of some of these products, but to see where they are made, to be able to touch, feel and pick them out myself was definitely different. ”

Many of the products come from organisations in Nepal that empower women and children. Beads, for example, were purchased from Asha Nepal an organisation that helps women and children affected by sex trafficking. Asha is the Nepali word for hope.

Asha Nepal has a group home for girls ages 14 to 18 who have been involved with sex trafficking, and also arranges foster homes involving young children who have been abused or used in sex trafficking, and women who have been rescued.

“Family is very important in Nepal,” said Mss Cacace. “When I visited Asha I was greeted by a little four year old girl. She took me by the hand and proudly showed me around her house. She was chattering away. Of course, she didn’t speak English. When I heard her backstory I just couldn’t believe it. I just broke down. And the children there were so happy and proud of where they lived, despite what had happened earlier in their lives. I had a teary moment, almost every day on the trip.”

Another moving day came when she was taken to visit a nearby mountain.

“The mountain was beautiful and had an amazing view of the Himalayas,” she said. “At the top of the mountain was this half finished school. An Irish charity had started to build it and then, apparently, run out of money before it was finished. There were these children sitting there at these old wooden tables. They had their notebooks and they were just waiting for the teacher to arrive. Some of them had already been waiting two hours. We were there another two hours and the schoolteacher only came as we were leaving. But the children were so determined to get an education that they were willing to wait all that time. They were so passionate.”

She said KatKids planned to investigate what had happened to the building of the school, and see if they could help in some way.

Miss Cacace said when she was purchasing products from different vendors, they were very happy to help her when they heard that she was buying them for a charity and the money would eventually come back to Nepal.

“They wanted to be a part of what we were doing,” she said. “They wanted to tell their story.”

Miss Cacace, who is Marketing Assistant at Catlin said: “It was an emotional and grounding trip.”

She had no problem travelling by herself. “It was easier than I thought,” she said. “When I was in university I did a semester in Florence, Italy and travelled all over Europe by myself, so I was used to it.”

While in Nepal, she was based in a city called Thamel and stayed at the Kathmandu Guest House, patronised by The Beatles in 1968.

“The hotel was quite old, although it had been refurbished, and had stars on the floor to remember The Beatles’ visit,” she said.

Tickets to the KatKids Market are $10 and available at www.bdatix.com, at Stefanel on Reid Street, or at the door. The market will run on October 17.