Follow My Footsteps: A Journey of Adventure, Disaster, and Redemption Inspired by the Plight of At-Risk Girls

In Follow My Footsteps, Sara Safari and Jeffrey Kottler recount the thrilling tale of Sara’s climb to the top of Mount Everest for a cause: bringing awareness to the plight of marginalized girls and victims of child sex trafficking around the world.

As a young girl in Iran after the Islamic Revolution, Sara experienced firsthand the oppressive, restrictive environment that enables the sex-trafficking trade to thrive. She found herself with little personal freedom and few rights under the law, and she knew there had to be something better.

As an adult, Sara wanted to empower children who’d been cast aside by society, so she set out on a journey fraught with obstacles and life-threatening peril.

She’d never before understood the quest for the glory that came with standing atop the world. But what better way to show these young girls that they can do anything they put their minds to?

Her own heartbreaking past makes the story of her determination all the more inspirational. The trials she faced changed her forever and helped her discover a strength she didn’t know she had.

Sara Safari is an advocate for social justice around the world. She fights for women’s rights and has received the Global Citizenship Award for her outstanding work with Empower Nepali Girls. She is an accomplished mountaineer who has climbed some of the highest peaks in the world. Sara works as a professor of engineering and computer science.

Jeffrey Kottler is the author over ninety nonfiction books, including several best-sellers. He is a psychologist and the Founder of Empower Nepali Girls. Jeffrey is also Professor Emeritus of Counseling at California State University, Fullerton.