Ayyā Medhānandī is the guiding teacher and founder of Sati Sārāṇīya Hermitage, the first Theravāda bhikkhunī monastery in Canada. She was ordained as a sāmaneri in 1988 in Myanmar with Venerable Sayadaw U Pandita. After 10 years training at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery with Ajahn Sumedho, she was based in New Zealand and Asia. In 2007, she fulfilled her long held wish for bhikkhunī ordination in Taiwan before returning to Canada. Life's spiritual tests have ignited her unrelenting faith to live this path with forgiveness, patience and compassion.