January greetings from Lalitpur! 30-year-old Srijana gets strength from other women

According to studies, helping women and girls is one of the most effective ways to enhance the well-being of families and the entire community and reduce poverty. Thank you for coming along with Kaiko. You help women get opportunities. 🖤

For a Sunday read, here are some news about our project from 30-year-old Srijana in the village of Ghusel.

'Srijana Ghimire, 30, lives in the village of Ghusel in Nepal, about 30 km from Kathmandu. Their house on the mountainside is also home to her three daughters and her husband. Srijana’s in-laws live next door and help the couple with household chores when needed.

The house built in mountainous and steep terrain is surrounded by farmland, a barn and a henhouse. There are five buffaloes that produce 25–30 litres of milk per day. The milk is collected daily and taken to the village collection centre to be transported further, Srijana explains. Srijana cannot tell the exact number of chickens but there seem to be several hundreds of them. It takes 45 days for chicks to grow into chickens, and after that they are sold.

Taking care of the animals takes up a large part of Srijana's day. In addition, she also works in a field that grows, for example, mustard, cauliflower, carrot, onion, garlic and radish. To have the time to do everything, Srijana wakes up at 4.30 in the morning and first goes to feed the chickens and the buffaloes. After breakfast she cleans out the animal shelters, gathers food for the buffaloes in the forest, works in the field and later in the afternoon feeds the animals again.

In the afternoon I prepare food and do laundry, Srijana explains and smiles when asked about free time. There is no extra time in the day. In the evening I go to bed early, already at eight, so that I can wake up early. Srijana's husband participates in the farm work and, according to Srijana, work is divided equally. We have a good division of labour, I am happy about that.

Srijana Ghimire belongs to the women's group of the Ghusel village cooperative that is supported by Women's Bank and she has received a loan from the cooperative. That has been used to buy equipment needed in work around the house. Belonging in the group has meant a lot to me. I have got a lot of strength from other women and also faith in that a woman, too, can become an entrepreneur. That is what I am striving for myself as well. Srijana's biggest dream concerns children. I want the best possible life, and an easier one than what I have had myself, for my children. I will do everything I can so that they could get an education and get ahead in life.'

Thanks for the picture and story to the Women's Bank voluntary communications team Tiina and Maria. Text: Tiina Toivakka Photos: Maria Miklas