31/03/2020
Women’s Bank, Pt. 1 – Education & Opportunity
The anticipation our team felt was palpable. The day had finally arrived when we’d get the opportunity to see firsthand the work Women’s Bank was doing in the rural areas of Nepal. The work Kaiko’s mission has partnered with to be a catalyst of change for the women residing in this developing nation. Even more so, we were excited to be able to come home to Finland with stories and photos to share, to be able to show what Fashion With a Mission truly looks like.
We arrived at the village of Ghushel to the welcoming smiles and hugs of about ten local women who were involved in the Women’s Bank Cooperative. Some of the women were board members, who help run and facilitate the work, while others were members, who have received training, education, and financial support through the cooperative. They sat together with us and shared with us some of the details of the many ways the project supports local women.
An important aspect of Women’s Bank’s work is providing practical training for new skills which can help them in future business endeavours or to branch out their revenue streams. They also educate them, particularly on the subject of women’s rights in Nepal, as many of the rural villages don’t actually know what the current, updated law includes. Knowledge of their own rights in regard to property ownership, custody, domestic violence, etc. is imperative in empowering the women to take ownership of their own livelihoods.
Second, and one of the biggest functions of the cooperative is to provide financial support. Women’s Bank offers no-collateral, low-interest loans with a flexible pay-back schedule in order to help women take the leap into entrepreneurship. Not a hand out, but an opportunity. Several of the women, sitting on the floor there with us, had taken the loan themselves and shared about how that one single form of aid had impacted their lives. Watching their faces light up as they told us of their accomplishments was such a powerful moment for all of us.
Looking back on this day, the thing that has stuck with us is the sense of personability this experience has brought to our work. Fashion With a Mission has always been our ‘why,’ the reason we do what we do. But putting faces, voices, and smiles behind that mission seems to amplify our cause and push us forward with further intent and purpose.
We arrived at the village of Ghushel to the welcoming smiles and hugs of about ten local women who were involved in the Women’s Bank Cooperative. Some of the women were board members, who help run and facilitate the work, while others were members, who have received training, education, and financial support through the cooperative. They sat together with us and shared with us some of the details of the many ways the project supports local women.
An important aspect of Women’s Bank’s work is providing practical training for new skills which can help them in future business endeavours or to branch out their revenue streams. They also educate them, particularly on the subject of women’s rights in Nepal, as many of the rural villages don’t actually know what the current, updated law includes. Knowledge of their own rights in regard to property ownership, custody, domestic violence, etc. is imperative in empowering the women to take ownership of their own livelihoods.
Second, and one of the biggest functions of the cooperative is to provide financial support. Women’s Bank offers no-collateral, low-interest loans with a flexible pay-back schedule in order to help women take the leap into entrepreneurship. Not a hand out, but an opportunity. Several of the women, sitting on the floor there with us, had taken the loan themselves and shared about how that one single form of aid had impacted their lives. Watching their faces light up as they told us of their accomplishments was such a powerful moment for all of us.
Looking back on this day, the thing that has stuck with us is the sense of personability this experience has brought to our work. Fashion With a Mission has always been our ‘why,’ the reason we do what we do. But putting faces, voices, and smiles behind that mission seems to amplify our cause and push us forward with further intent and purpose.