An American on the Plateau

Willard Johnson is from Seattle, Washington. He studied at MIT and after graduating pursued his passion for basketball, playing on teams in Australia, Iceland, Cape Verde and Costa Rica. His thirst for travel, hunger for new experiences and love of coaching brought him to the Tibetan Plateau and the Norlha Atelier in the fall of 2015. Today, he works as a member of Norlha’s sales team during the day and coaches the Norlha basketball team in the evenings.

In addition, he started SEWN (Strength and Empowerment for Women of Norlha) a support group that encourages young nomad girls employed at Norlha to study English, play basketball and find courage to explore new things in life. The Norlha community and the village of Ritoma have come to love Bill’s free spirit and enthusiasm for all aspects of life on the plateau.