Nancy Bender Barbee

Nancy Barbee is a retired kindergarten teacher and school librarian from Pollocksville, North Carolina. In December 2001, three months after the towers fell, she packed too many shoes, grabbed her twelve-year-old son, and flew to India with no money and no plan. She's been going back every year since.

For twenty-four years, Nancy has traveled to India as a Rotary International volunteer, leading National Immunization Day teams, building school libraries, and doing the kind of work that starts with a phone call and a yes. She will be featured in the Open Planet documentary series in 2026.

She is the author of My Angel is You, Lessons for Teachers, and Every Year Since. She lives in Pollocksville with her son Bryce, two cats named Baby Kitty and Squeaky, and a back porch that every stray in the county seems to know about.