In rural Nepal, many people have acquired gas stoves. But with oil both scarce and expensive, most Nepalis still light fires to cook and stay warm. That requires a great deal of firewood.

Reporter Laura Spero has spent the last seven years traveling to the village of Kaskikot and living with a local family there. Laura recently accompanied her adopted family and a crowd of neighbors to gather wood in the forest, and she sent this Reporter's Notebook from Nepal.

Music for this show ...