07 December 2017

On becoming an entrepreneur

Additional Info

  • VAWG themes: VAWG & Education, VAWG & Social Norms
  • Country: Nepal
  • Project: VSO International - Nepal

One Community, One Family Programme, Nepal

My name is Parbati*, I am 24-years-old, married, and live in Kathekhola Rural Municipality in Baglung district. This is my story.

I have been married for four years and there are seven people in my family, I live with my in-laws, my husband and my two sons. Before marriage, I always worried about the kind of family I would be getting married into, but I was one of the lucky ones and my new family is very understanding and supportive.

The main source of income for our family was raising goats, chickens and buffalo as well as working the land. Recently, along with my in-laws, I got an opportunity to participate in ten workshop sessions about gender transformative norms and economic empowerment as part of the One Community One Family project supported by VSO Nepal and BYC Baglung. This is a UKAID funded global initiative called What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls.

The training was brilliant, like the cherry on the top, as three members of my family were given an opportunity to participate and broaden our knowledge around gender and economic empowerment issues. Since the sessions have ended, we have begun to discuss issues that we used to argue about before as a way to solve family problems.

Our family background is simple and we used to herd cows, buffalo, and chickens just for household purposes, but we never considered them to be Income Generating Activities (IGA). Upon completion of the above mentioned training, I received seed money, which helped me to raise 50 chickens and a goat to pursue commercial farming. I received financial and technical support from this IGA, and my in-laws has been amazing too and have helped me to grow - even when I'm not around or away from home. To date, my IGA has been running successfully and I am confident that I can be an independent entrepreneur who can also support my family economically and I do not have to travel far to earn money.

* Not the real name.