She attended the United Nations International School in New York and Switzerland and received her Masters degree from New York University in Journalism and International Relations. She has worked with UNICEF in Geneva, Switzerland, volunteered with a peace organization in former Yugoslavia at the height of the war, has worked in Pakistan for the World Health Organization (WHO) and in refugee camps on the Pakistani-Afghan border, and has taught hygiene for midwives in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule. She lived in Kathmandu, Nepal for three years and has been living in Varanasi, India since 2003.