Gender Equality Nepal Project #6342

Help 832 women in Nepal start their own businesses

by Educate the Children

Project Report | Aug 10, 2012
Postcard: Project Site Visit

By Ellen Currin | GlobalGiving InTheField Representative

Collecting money at the group meeting

Shari Davis & Ellen Currin are InTheField Travelers with GlobalGiving who are visiting our partners’ projects throughout Nepal. Their “Postcard” from their most recent visit in Nepal:

During my visit in Dolakha I found the Aaltareng women’s group meeting up on the hillside. Despite the busy planting season, every single member of the group had showed up for the monthly meeting. One woman even attended with a very young set of twins! In addition to the Aaltareng group members, some women from a nearby women’s group showed up to observe and learn new practices. It was wonderful to see that the women are so engaged and committed to their groups, and the network they are building seems very strong.

At the start of the meeting, the treasurer collected the monthly savings from each member. At this particular meeting, the women decided to increase their monthly savings from 50 rupees to 60 rupees so that their overall savings would increase. After loan interest was also collected, the group had several thousand rupees in hand, and they voted on how they should distribute the money as new loans. Everything was done democratically and transparently, and all of the money transactions were recorded by the secretary. After the money was dealt with, the women began talking about school and the importance of staying involved in children’s educations. The 'community mobilizer' suggested that the mothers attend parents’ meetings and monitor their children’s progress. ETC promotes a well-rounded strategy to community improvement by supporting women and schools. While roaming the village I saw several schools that ETC has supported as well.

The women’s empowerment program that Educate the Children runs is six years long, and during the fifth year the group registers as a cooperative with the government. ETC prepares the groups so that they can be sustainable when ETC support runs out. While the Aaltareng group was having their monthly meeting, two other groups were attending an ETC sponsored training about becoming a cooperative. The room was packed with women and their small children, and everyone was engaged with the passionate instructor. Neela, a women's empowerment officer, explained the success of their other trainings, such as health trainings, sanitation, and kitchen garden care.

After a busy day of meetings and trainings, I visited a small commercial farm owned by a member of the local women’s group. The farm was started with a loan from the group as an income generation project. The farm grows off-season vegetables that bring in several thousand rupees each year. The women was so proud as she gave me a tour of the farm. ETC supports other income generation projects like small poultry farming and goat raising. The skills, extra income, and empowerment that these women receive by being part of a women’s group seems undeniable, and it was inspiring to meet so many women benefiting from ETC’s support!

owner of a small income generation farm project

school mural painted in collaboration with ETC

crops growing on a woman's small commercial farm

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Jun 7, 2012
How can $50 possibly change lives for the better?

By Lisa Lyons | Executive Director (U.S.)

Nepalese women thank you for your support!

If someone had told me a year ago that a mere $50 could mean the difference between remaining in poverty and the chance at a better life, I don't know if I would have taken that claim very seriously.

Since joining ETC in late 2011, however, I have come to understand just how powerful and life-changing a small amount of money can be, for hundreds of women in rural Dolakha, Nepal.

ETC supports 42 women's groups in Dolakha, which have a combined total of more than 850 members. These women were almost all illiterate and living in grave poverty, often suffering from food shortage and malnutrition. Since ETC's arrival in Dolakha in 2008, they have learned to read, write, and do basic math. They have also received the resources and support they need to start and expand their own small businesses.

The women's groups control a total of more than $28,000 in savings assets, which they loan out to fellow group members. The average loan size is just under $50. In the past year and a half, hundreds of women have taken out and repaid business loans. The most popular types of small business for which start-up and expansion loans are requested are goat and poultry farms, accounting for more than 75% of all loan purposes.

A woman with a thriving small business can afford to feed her family more nutritious food and can ensure that all of her children are able to attend school. Moreover, she feels a significant sense of pride in her new-found abilities and achievements.

By supporting ETC's Women's Empowerment Program, you have helped to ensure that hundreds of women have gained the skills and confidence to improve their own lives and those of their families.

From all of us at ETC: Thank you for your generosity!

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Mar 20, 2012
Two problems, one solution!

By Lisa Lyons | Executive Director (U.S.)

Winter tomatoes were grown in this garden

Hello, Educate the Children supporters! I am writing to provide you with an update on our GlobalGiving.org project, "Help 832 women in Nepal start their own businesses."

Your support of this project is helping us solve two problems with one solution. How?

As you know, women in Nepal are traditionally expected to remain silent and subservient. They are discouraged from taking any public role, even from speaking their minds in public. Only one-quarter of women age 15 and older are literate, because schooling for girls is undervalued and often unaffordable. Girls are often married young - in their early teens, even - and become mothers soon thereafter. They typically move to their husbands' villages, where they likely have no family, close friends, or other support networks of their own - at first.

Through ETC's women's groups, these women become literate, gain access to the skills and resources (including microcredit loans) necessary to start their own small businesses, and achieve a sense of confidence in their abilities. They also become part of a peer group, through which they share their successes, lessons learned, and dreams for themselves and their families. They learn to speak up and advocate for their rights, knowing that they are not alone because their women's group "has their back."

By enabling women to start their own businesses, you and we are solving two problems: women's lack of empowerment, and families' lack of access to nutritious food.

Nepalese agriculture is characterized by subsistence farming and the concentration of most land in the hands of a few people. Most Nepalese live on $1.25 or less per day, and many women scrape an insufficient living by working in other people's fields. Food insecurity and malnutrition are all too common.

Most of the women with whom ETC works start small agri-businesses - goat and chicken farms and market gardening (often through the establishment of kitchen gardens next to their homes) are especially popular.

The women's small agri-businesses produce nutritious food such as goats' milk, eggs, leafy green vegetables, and fruits for families whose diet had previously consisted largely of rice. The extra income generated also helps buy more food to supplement what they can grow themselves. Whole families, even whole villages, become healthier. And the women who work so hard feel a sense of great pride, knowing that their efforts are not only materially helping their loved ones, but also winning them respect and higher status in their communities.

From all of us at ETC, thank you.

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