Nelli Mukhametshina

Daughter Henry Nelli Mukhametshina

In 2012, Nelli was accepted into the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program through the US State Department. The sixteen-year-old left her home in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia to live with strangers on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. Nelli danced the hula, swam and surfed in the Pacific. She learned to strum the ukulele and chant in Hawaiian. She discovered the meaning of "aloha" and became a "hanai" (a true daughter) in her host family. She experienced touching moments of love and good humor all the while checking off adventures from her "bucket list." After Nelli's return to Russia, her host father in the US began to chronicle their family's year together, collaborating closely with Nelli and interviewing so many for the telling of this truly remarkable story.