Radha Joshi

May 2023

At First Namaste to all my readers. It’s my last blog of 16 month, therefore today I am going to share about my 16 months journey being in WAWCAS Program. It feels like yesterday when Sajan came to me and asked to share my experience. Sajan asked my approval to post my blog in WAWCAS International webpage. I was not sure how it will go at that time, but he told me that it’s a blog of my 16 months of experience in WAWCAS Program. Time flies very fast, because I have already completed the 16 months of my Journey. To see the changes, I’ve made from the time I started joining the WAWCAS program till today is amazing. I feel happy and blessed. If I had to compare myself from then and now, I have development so much personal and business wise.

This WAWCAS program has opened my eyes, and I am very happy to be part of the WAWCAS family. Now my confidence level has increased, and I talk to my children about how they feel. They now share things with me too. Before they never used to share with me what happened in their lives or how they felt. During the WAWCAS training I learned how to behave towards my children, which had helped me very much.

Talking about the other aspect of the WAWCAS program, I learned a lot through our fun and discussions. The seven days of training and IBT that we received was very good and fruitful. I have never felt tired or bored during the training. Another inspiring exercise which I liked the most was PCA, SWOT, PSRP and dairy writing. The PCA exercise helped me to control unnecessary expenses, the SWOT exercise helped me to change my bad behaviors and increase the good behaviors, and I learned to grab the opportunities at the right time and deal with the hurdles that comes into our lives while carrying out our business. The dairy writing exercise was also very fruitful to me, as I can express all my feelings and record all the income and expenses in the diary.

The 7-Days training, 4-Days Livestock Training and monthly IBT Training we received was so good and fruitful. We never felt tired or bored during the training. My husband has changed a lot. He is very supportive now. Sajan was always motivating and encouraging him to change.  I feel so good. Thank you so much Sajan who has always been with me on my journey. He shared with me, and he has been writing my story.

I would also like to share my next 3-years plan. Me and my husband are planning to expand our goat farming and additional Bee Farming Business as well. We are planning to sell our 2 mother goats and will purchase the other 4 baby goats to start and expand the goat farming business. And also, we are planning to purchase 2 bee hives to extend our bee farming business as well.

I am very grateful to the WAWCAS program and Slisha Organization for showing me the right path and for supporting me. Without the help of the Organization and the support from Sajan, I would never have come to this point of my life. So once again, thank you for your help and support. Since this will be my last blog, I would like to thank all of you who have followed my 16 months of ups and downs on the WAWCAS journey.

Dear Readers

Now it is time for me to say goodbye on the behalf of Radha Joshi and myself. I am sure that you have all enjoyed reading Radha Joshi’s ups and downs on her 16 months of journey in WAWCAS Program. I am pretty sure that she will be doing very well in future. I see a lot of confidence, learning and positive changes within her. Thank you!!

Yours Sincerely

Sajan Shakya

Team Leader, Lamjung

April 2023

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and with my new additional Bee Farming Business. My Husband is helping me to run both businesses very smoothly.

Today I am going to share about my experience and learning regarding “Time Management”. I still remember when Sajan asked all of us: “What is that equal resource that the god has provided us equally?”. To this question all of us told the different answers according to our logic but we failed to answer it correctly. Therefore we asked Sajan to answer it. He then answered: “Time is the equal resource that nature has been providing all of us equally”. After hearing his answer, we all were satisfied, and then he asked us another question: “What roles are we being playing so far?” To this question, everyone again told different answers. After hearing everyone, Sajan asked what is the link between time and roles? To this question also everyone answered differently.  After hearing all of us Sajan said that each of us have different roles in our family. We should fulfill our roles and responsibilities according to situation and time. We learned that we cannot have different roles at the same time, and we should manage a proper time for every relationship we have. We have to talk with the related person and discuss with him or her to solve the problem. This will make the relationship better. I learned that every woman could succeed in business by prioritizing each role.

After discussing about roles, we then discussed about the different works and activities that we have been doing so far. Sajan then asked us to categorize the works in to four parts: 1) very urgent and very important, 2) Urgent but not Important, 3) Important but not urgent, 4) Not important and not urgent. As told, we categorize our works into these four parts and analyzed that most of us have been spending our time in not important and not urgent category such as excessive use of mobile phones, watching TV series, sleeping in daytime, consumption of alcohol etc. I also checked my time that has been unnecessary being wasted in not important and not urgent category. It’s around 2-3 hours per day.

After this session I learned, I should plan our daily activities and spend our time effectively on the productive work that is in my business. We should avoid unproductive activities so that our work would not be harm. After realizing the value of time, I have been scheduling my activities and giving more priority to my business instead of unproductive works. On every visits, Sajan keeps asking me how I’m managing my time. If I’m working according to the schedule or not?

This topic helps us to be practical in our life. I used to spend my extra time using my phone and watching series whenever I want. Now I have changed totally. I used to always leave my household activities for tomorrow, but now I have improved this habit. I have learned that if we utilized our time very effectively with the current situation then we will become successful women for sure. Therefore now a days I have been providing more time towards my business and fulfilling my roles and responsibilities towards my family.

March 2023

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and with my new additional Bee Farming Business. My Husband is helping me to run both businesses very smoothly. We are very happy to announce that we are running our own businesses by ourselves. Today I am going to share about my learning experience regarding PSRP  (Participatory Self Review Program) Training.

We used to have two meetings a month: one of them was about saving money, loan repayment, group loan investment, business training and the other meeting was for discussing on different social topics (IBT). Every month we’re used to discuss different topic. In order to know what changes we have achieved, we used to do an exercise called PSRP. I like this exercise very much as it helps us to know how my situation is now.

Every topic has different questionnaires which have four different answers: Always, Sometimes, Never and Not Applicable. We get to know our present situation of sanitation, nutrition, child rights, woman rights, safe motherhood, business etc. And also helps us to know how to improve our situation if needed. I have never had a really good chance to know my situation before and I never knew that we have to know our situation like this in order to improve our lives and daily activities.

After our discussion on Sanitation, I felt that I have changed a lot but after doing PSRP questionnaires I was told, I have not changed enough. I answered the questions about children’s Hygiene and covering our food and then I tried to improve my situation and now I have seen positive changes by the help of this exercise.

Similarly, we used to do PSRP of our business in which we used to discuss issues like:  Do we keep record or not?  Is our business clean? Do we compare prices at least at 2-3 different places before buying any new products? Do we have different products than our competitor? By doing so, we learn the situation about our business so much better and we learn how we can bring positive changes in our business. Also with the help of this exercise we learned how to grow and expand our business and income and it help us to become good and successful business women as well.

It is not only about discussing the different topics that is important but also to know our situation on that particular topic. This exercise plays a vital role in improving our weaknesses. Therefore, I am delighted to involve myself in this PSRP Exercise and I will continue doing this exercise.

Thank you !!!

February 2023

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and with my new additional Bee Farming Business. My Husband is helping me to run both businesses very smoothly. We are very happy to announce that we are running our own businesses by ourselves.

Today I am going to share my learning and experiences regarding child development through IBT (Issue Based Training), which helped me to be a better mother.  When Sajan asked us how we wanted our children to be, everyone said good things about their children. Sajan concluded that everyone wants improvement for their children but just wanting is not enough. It depends upon our behavior towards our children. When you sow the seeds of wheat, you cannot grow rice. Likewise, the good future of the children also depends on our behavior. Sajan told us what behavior towards our children we should do and what behaviors we should avoid.

Behaviors that should be done:

• Appreciation and Encouragement.
• Love and Affection.
• Provide time to play games.
• Inform children whenever leaving home.
• Only telling them why certain things should not be done is not enough. The reason why they are not to be done should also be explained to them.
• Make it a habit to share our food with those who are in need.
• Give time and praise your children hard works.
• Teach them to help poor and support people who are in need.

Behaviors that should not be done:

• Should not discriminate between children. This results in development of inferiority complex in the discriminated child.
• Should not ask children to do work in return of things like biscuits, chocolate, money etc. Later, children will not do anything without expectation of any returns.
• Should not praise a single child. This will result on development of arrogance towards the other child.
• Should not promise children for anything that cannot be fulfilled. They may lose confidence and trust towards their parents.

The training was very fruitful and as a mother, I never think that way. I was very surprised. Because I realized that I never praised my kids and always makes promises which I never fulfill. I felt so bad, and I committed myself to never do this again. After the training, I went home with lots of feelings, and I shared them with my husband. We both have started to praise our kid and listen to what they say. We also explain to our children how important it is to serve needy and poor people. And they listen so attentively without asking any questions. After the training, we changed our behavior toward our children, and they are very happy whenever we praise their works and listen to them.

January 2023

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and also with my new additional Bee Farming Business. My Husband is helping me to run both businesses very smoothly. We are very happy to announce that we are running our own businesses by ourselves.

Today I am going to share with you my learning and experience regarding the  Saving Meeting and usage of group loan in a very difficult time. Our Saving Meeting is held every third week of a month. At the beginning of the training, Sajan taught us how to attend and host the meeting. After a few months we actively participated in the Saving Meeting and did all the calculation ourselves. Sajan encourages everyone in the group to increase the optional and child saving, as it would be easy for everyone in the group to utilize the group loan.

Last month in the saving meeting, I requested a group loan because I need to pay my son’s school fee within a week. After calculating all the savings, I had Rs.2000, this was not enough. Therefore I requested everyone in the saving meeting to help me with Rs.2000 as a group loan.  After hearing my problems, my group members decided to help me, and I got the Rs.2000 as a group loan for 3 months. I was very happy and blessed everyone in the group as they understood my problems and helped me in this very difficult time. This is how our group members support each other. I thanked everyone in the group.

In the beginning, right after the 7–days training had finished, many members of the group didn’t do optional and child saving. But now, almost all are saving for child education and optional savings which is very good.

In every Saving Meeting Sajan teach us very nicely of the importance of saving and also the calculation part.  And now we can host the meeting very confidentially and do all the calculation parts correctly ourselves. Nowadays, Sajan does more observations, and we take more actions in the meetings. And talking about the Group Loan, it has helped everyone very greatly to solve their difficulties and problems. Previously we used to take a loan from Cooperative and relatives and had to pay high interest, but now we have our group saving which we can use during difficult times.

Therefore, I feel very lucky and blessed to be part of the WAWCAS program and thanks to Sajan and Slisha Organization for including me in the group and WAWCAS Program.

December 2022

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and also with my new additional Bee Farming Business. My Husband is helping me to run both businesses very smoothly. We are very happy to announce that we are running our own businesses by ourselves.

A few weeks back, Sajan discussed Gender Equality in IBT Meeting. At first, he asked all of us a question; “What comes immediately to our mind when we talk or hear about women or men?” everyone looked at each other and I was baffled about what I should say. We started to share our thoughts and Sajan wrote them down on the flipchart.

Then Sajan asked, “Can’t the women be courageous, or can’t the men be tolerant, coward?” In this manner, women and men are differentiated/ discriminated against in terms of food, clothes, work, behavior, etc. and these have all been created by our community, which could be changed. It is not done by nature. So, this situation created by the community/society is called “gender”. Therefore, it is very essential to bring changes in our attitude and behavior. Until the responsibility of women doing household chores is minimized, the decisions taken by women are given due to recognition and they are given equal opportunity for education. It will be difficult to make women capable. The topic was so interesting.

Again, Sajan asked and informed us as followed: Then what is a boy and what is a girl?

Only the sexual and reproductive organs are different. All other organs are the same. This biological or physical construction is called sex. Because of their physical construction, boys belong to the male sex and girls to the female sex.

These biological or physical differences are created by nature and these differences are the same in every family, community, or country. Biologically, a boy is the same everywhere in the world and a girl is the same everywhere in the world.  The other differences between boys and girls – like their clothes, behavior, and education the attitudes of society towards them. These are all social or cultural differences and are not the same in every family and every society.

These social and cultural definitions of men and women are called gender. For example, it is society which makes rules, such as a girl should stay within the house, where else a boy can go out. Or a girl should be given less time to play than a boy. Gender is socially constructed.  Gender is changeable and varies from one place to another. The responsibilities of man and woman are not based or decided by sex but are imposed by the society.  As a woman, we must change our attitudes and habits and bring change in society. As mothers, we should not discriminate against our children. If we are not changing ourselves no one can change our situation. While Sajan was discussing, I was so touched.

After the discussion on gender, Sajan requested to divide us into 2 groups and develop an activity profile through the PRA tool (drawing): The materials were made available to us to make an activity profile.  We made profiles through colorful markers.

Then he also asked us, who does most of the household work, and in return, we answered us women do every household work from morning to night. And again he asked us to do our work and get appreciation from men, in return, we answer no our work is not valued or get appreciated. This realization really touches me inside. Us, women, do a lot of household work compared to men. But our work does not get valued or recognized. Then Sajan explained the different women’s rights which have been allocated by the constitution of our Country. Hearing about the different special women’s rights, opened my eyes. We women are equally important as men. We have also equal rights to actively participate in the different areas mentioned above. The Gender Equality IBT was really fruitful and knowledgeable. The Training helped me to realize how backward we women are in different areas compared to men. Another important knowledge that I gained from this Training was the different women’s rights that have been allocated by the constitution of our country Nepal.

I shared all the learning of Gender Equality IBT with my husband and family. My husband was surprised and listened to me very carefully as I shared it with him. He is a very helpful person but still, he promised to help and participate in every household work and also towards our business. I am very happy that my husband is really participating and helping me in each and every household work. I am really grateful to Slisha Organization’s WAWCAS program and Sajan for helping my husband to bring positive changes.

November 2022

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and also with my new additional Bee Farming Business. Talking about my paddy field, I have finished harvesting the paddy with the help of my family and relatives. It was great to see all of my loving relatives after such a long time. I also went to harvest my relatives’ paddy field in return.

Today I want to share about my husband’s attitude towards me and towards our family after joining the WAWCAS Program. The WAWCAS program has brought a big change into our family’s life, socially as well as economically. I have seen other organizations in our village with different projects, but the WAWCAS program is very much different and has really done a great job. I am very happy that I got the chance to join the WAWCAS program.

The program has not only brought an improvement in our economic status, but also in many other social ways. In the beginning I did not give much attention to the goat farming business, but my husband was so excited and very concerned about it. We invested all our profits from the farming business and even our family savings. I used to share new ideas and all the things that I learn from the WAWCAS group to my husband. I am so happy that me and my husband also got the opportunity to attend four days of training with the WAWCAS group. The training was about agriculture and animal husbandry. This training was very useful.

I share a lot of things to my husband which I have learnt from my WAWCAS group. I taught my husband why and how to make a record of our finances and our business. I also shares everything that I have learned from business and social training from Sajan. I also explain to my husband how we should treat our children, about nutrition and many other things. I also share my ideas of additional business. In the beginning I was not so sure about additional businesses, but a few months back during the home visit, Sajan explained about the benefits of establishing new additional business. And, after getting the very fruitful “Business Training” our additional Bee Farming business is going very well now. My husband fully supported and participated with all the ups and down in our life.  I can see the positive differences and attitudes of my husband before and after joining the WAWCAS group. We are very proud that we have our own business now. I am very good at transforming the skills which I learned in the different pieces of training and my husband is very willing to learn new things. He always asks me to share after the training. Thank you WAWCAS Program for bringing positive changes and attitudes towards my husband’s life and also towards our family.

October 2022

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation I am doing fine with my Goat Farming business and new additional Bee Farming Business. Talking about my paddy field, I have finished plucking the weeds for final time with the help of my family and relatives. It was great to see all of my loving relatives after such a long time. I also went to pluck the weeds of my relatives’ Paddy field in return. The paddy will be harvested after the Tihar as the 2^nd largest Festival of Nepal is approaching soon.

Today I am going to share about my experience learning on Business Training. At first, I would like to remind you all, that I have received Rs.25000 from Slisha Organization for starting Goat Farming Business right after completing 7-Days of Training. After receiving the loan amount, I bought 2 baby goats and 1 mother goat. I also participated in a 4-days livestock Training organized by Slisha, which helped very greatly to run our business smoothly. Now talking about the Business Training. Last month Sajan asked everyone in the meeting about our business status and how it is running so far. Everyone expressed about how their business has been going so far. Beside goat farming business, my additional Bee Farming business is also going great so far. In the Business Training, at first Sajan reviewed us about booking keeping which we learned during seven days training. We informed him that we should keep the record of all the expenses and income separately so that after comparing both expenses and income we can calculate net income or net loss. After the review, Sajan started to discuss the cash-flow through different business such as goat farming, chicken farming, cattle farming and so on. Comparing the different business with cash-flow, the most profitable business seems chicken farming as in every 45 days the product can be sold which helps to generate good cash-flow. He also explained us about the different decomposed and undecomposed products. The decomposed products which are generally used in eatery and grocery such as vegetables, fruits and other raw materials should not be kept stock for a long time. It should rather be sold on time. This process helps to control and prevent the waste of products, which helps to generate more income in our business. Another very useful technique that we learned in this Business Training was advertisement. The different types of advertisement such mouth to mouth, notice on chart-paper, hooding board etc. plays very vital role to inform and attract all the customers. The grocery and eatery business should be established and generated in a place where the traffic is very high. We should also clean up and take good care of our place, regarding good hygiene, since the customers’ first observation would be the places’ hygiene. Good hygiene also helps attracting a greater number of customers.

At last, I would like to say, that the business training which I received from Sajan is very productive and fruitful. I will be sharing this informative knowledge with all my family members and will implement in my business from now on. Thanks to Sajan and Slisha Organization for this very useful and productive Training.

September 2022

At first, Namaste to all my readers. Talking about my current situation, I am doing pretty fine with my Goat Farming business and new additional Bee Farming Business. One of the mother goats has given birth to 2 baby goats recently. My new Bee Farming business is progressive as number of bees are increasing. Talking about my paddy field, I have finished plucking the weeds for second time with the help of my family and relatives. It was great to see all my loving relatives after such a long time. Besides, I also went to help pluck the weeds of my relatives’ Paddy field in return of their help.

Today I am going to share my experience with learning our Issue Based Training (IBT). The topic of our IBT meeting was “Sanitation”. Before starting the Training, Sajan asked us what we knew about sanitation, and we shared our knowledge based on past experience and learning. After hearing from us, Sajan explained what sanitation really is about and described the importance of sanitation. We had heard this term often before, but when Sajan explained its importance in detail, we realized it is a very serious issue and that we must pay attention to it.

From this training, I also gained knowledge about the different non-communicable and communicable diseases, how they transmit from one person to another person and the precautions that we must take to stay away from different kinds of diseases. I used to take sanitation term very slightly before but after taking the IBT training it opened my eyes. It’s a very serious topic in the current basis because due to lack of proper sanitation, many people in the word are suffering from COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. Therefore, we should take care of our personal hygiene, domestic hygiene, and environmental hygiene. I also learned about management of different waste product of our household. The decomposed waste materials can be made to compost manure and non-decomposed waste product such as glasses and metal products can be buried inside ditch. Talking about this IBT Training on Sanitation topic, it was a great learning experience for me because I gained detailed information about different types of sanitation and the communicable and non-communicable diseases and its precaution which we must pay attention to. Furthermore, the training also gave me great learning about the different types of manure and its management process. At the end of the meeting, Sajan told all of us to practice all the learnings in our daily life and to share our knowledge with our family members and relatives. I would like to thank Slisha organization, and Sajan for sharing and providing this very informative and fruitful Training on Sanitation topic. I promise I will apply all the learnings in my daily life basis and will share to all my family members and relatives.

August 2022

Talking about the current situation about myself; I am doing fine with my business and with the household works too. Regarding the paddy field, it’s been 1 month since I have planted it and now it is time for plucking the first weed. Therefore I have called some of my neighbors for helping me to pluck the weed in my paddy field. With the help of my neighbors, it took a couple of hours to finish the work. I was very happy to meet my neighbors after almost 1 month of time. We had a very good chat and had lunch together in the paddy field. After finishing the work we went to our respective home.

Me and my husband decided to start an additional business since we both were free at the current time. Finally we decided to do Bee Farming as an additional business. For the startup, we bought 1 Bee Hive to start the business. We also asked the owner about the process and the methodology of doing the Bee Farming business. After getting all the information we placed the bee hive right next to our farm where we also had planted some flowers and mustard flowers. Flowers are the main food source for bee which we have learnt form the owner. It’s been a month and the business is going quite smoothly for now. It will take at least 6 months for harvesting the honey. So we have still 5 months to carry on this business. Meanwhile we are also carrying out our Goat Farming business parallel and it’s going good too. And we are planning to sell one mother goat in the upcoming Dashain and will also add some baby goats. I feel really happy to meet Sajan as he comes to my home every month to hear how I am doing with my businesses, PCA (Pocket Chart Analysis), SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and PSRP. Beside this, I also share my personal feeling and problems such as my weak financial situation, the legal problems that I am dealing with is that my citizenship card and son’s birth certificate documents is not being made so fast, and my weakness problems such as forgetful, spent drift, believing other people very easily and so on. After hearing all my problems Sajan said that he will help me with making my legal documents as he will speak with an authorized person of Ward office, and then he will coordinate with them to help me. For my weakness part he told me that it will take time to improve my weakness therefore I should never give up hope but instead I must try my best to convert my weakness in to strength. He gives me a very good advice and motivates me to do better in my life. I feel very lucky to be part of the WAWCAS Program.

Thank you!!!

July 2022

Namaste Everyone,

The rainy season has arrived here in Nepal. It is time for every Nepalese person to start planting the rice. All my neighbors have come to help me to plant the rice in my small plot of land and in return I also went to help them to plant the rice in their plot of land. This is how the rice planting system works in our village. Therefore, I was super busy during the month of July. During the day of rice plantation in my land, luckily Sajan and Andika came to visit my home. I was super happy and overwhelmed seeing them coming to visit me.  We had a very good chat. Sajan asked me how I am doing with my business and household works. I told him that I am doing well with my business and household works. I also informed him that one of my elder son is being admitted to school recently. Hearing this great news Sajan and Andika were very happy and also asked us to admit our younger son to school as soon as possible. He also asked me to make my marriage certificate, Citizenship card and Birth certificate as soon as possible.  I told him that once I finish my work. I will find all the required documents.

And now it is time for the Rice Plantation. Along with my family members and neighbors I have started entering the field. I also asked Sajan and Andika to come and join us. Sajan told us that he will take photographs and will observe our work. And then we start planting the rice. It was really fun as all the neighbors had come to help me. We sang our traditional folk songs which are supposed to be sung during the rice planting time. Right after we had started planting the rice, the heavy rainfall came. Then we stopped our work for some time due to the heavy rainfall. We again had a very good chat with Sajan and Andika about our businesses and the problems we are currently facing with our daily lives and in our business as well. After the chat Sajan and Andika decided to head back to Office. Due to the continuous heavy rainfall, we decided to have our lunch break since everyone were hungry. After having our lunch, we decided to put on our raincoat and continue working in the field. We finished planting the rice around 6 p.m.

Oh God, it was a really busy and tiring day. But at the same time, I was happy too because I got to meet with Sajan and Andika on the day of my Rice Plantation. We had a very good chat and I got to share all my feelings and problems with them.

June 2022

Today I am going to share my diary writing experience after having joined the WAWCAS team. Before joining the WAWCAS team, I really did not know what a diary was used for. On the second last day of the “7-Days Training”, everyone, including me, got an individual diary. Then Ganga explained to everyone the importance of a diary and what it is used for. Since that day I have been writing in the diary. I have kept a record of my monthly expenses and income in my diary as well, which really helped me analyzing my expenses and income. It also helped me to reduce the unnecessary expenses. Similarly, I have also written down the daily activities that I have been doing, before going to bed. It really helped me to reflect on the day’s activities. I have never allocated the time before, but after having learned about the importance of diary writing, I have been giving myself 10 minutes every day to review and reflect my day. Nowadays, I feel very relaxed after having expressed my feelings in the diary. I have been showing my diary to Sajan in IBT Meeting and whenever he visit my home. He always remind me very politely to write the diary on the daily basis and also to record all the monetary transactions so that I can keep the track of money going in and going out.

Every three months I have also been filling in the SWOT and PCA forms in the diary as well, which helps me to analyze and reflect on my behaviors. Filling in the PCA form helps me to reduce and control unnecessary expenses. I am very grateful to the WAWCAS program for showing me the right path and providing me with the knowledge. Without the help from the WAWCAS program and support from Sajan, I would never have been able to change myself and my life. So once again, thank you for your help and support.

Note: SWOT is Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats; PCA is Pocket Chart Analysis

May 2022

Today I am going to share my experience with learning about the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis. At the beginning before I learned about SWOT Analysis, I had so many weaknesses and bad behaviors such as weak economic condition, no eagerness to learn, shyness, short tempered, drinking, laziness, spendthrift etc. After looking at my SWOT form, Ganga told me that I need to improve my weaknesses and should reduce the bad behaviors. We also discussed the different techniques for reducing the bad behaviors and improving my weaknesses. She also informed me that she would come to my home every month to discuss the SWOT to see if I am improving my weaknesses or not. During the home visit, I told her that I was doing well with my SWOT and informed her that I have improved some of my weaknesses such as my spendthrift habit, I feel less shy, and I have reduced the amount of alcohol I used to consumed during my past time.

The lesson that I have learnt from this exercise was that at first, we should analyze ourselves rather than analyzing other people. In our lives we will all experience the four stages, i.e., Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. Everyone has good behaviors and bad behaviors. Similarly, in everyone’s life at some point an opportunity or threat will also present itself while carrying out business and daily activities. Therefore, in summary, the main thing I learned from this exercise was that we should always improve and increase good behaviors in ourselves i.e., strength, and we should always reduce and slowly remove the bad behaviors i.e. weakness. Likewise, we should always grab the opportunities at the right time, and we should always tackle the hurdles that comes on our lives while carrying out our business and other daily activities.

Lastly, I would like to thank the WAWCAS Organization, Ganga and Sajan for teaching us this very useful exercise.

The Pocket Chart Analysis (PCA) form was first filled out during the seven days of training. Before filling out the form, Ganga told me about its importance and impact on our daily lives. When I first heard about its importance, it really touched me. I was also hesitant for a while and thought about how I could control my unnecessary expenses. But PCA has taught me how to spend money on proper things, most importantly, education of my children. I have been buying so many products for my household and business, but I have never kept a record of it. The lesson that I learned from this exercise was that we should always keep a record of the products we buy or sell in our diary. This we learned on the second last day of seven days of training.

Secondly, another lesson that I learned from this exercise was that we should control unnecessary expenses such as alcohol, cigarettes, etc. I liked this exercise very much, because at the end of the month, I was able to compare my expenses and income. If my expenses are greater than my income, I must control the unnecessary expenses. Another good thing about this exercise was that I can show the record to my family members and show them what I have spent, and what I have sold to generate income, so there is transparency to everyone in the family.

Ganga also informed us to write down every transaction in our diary. She also informed us, that she would come to our home and discuss our financial situation and will fill in the Pocket Chart Analysis Form. During the home visit and business visit, she came to my home specifically to discuss my financial status and to fill in the PCA form. After seeing my monthly expenses and income, she suggested that I should try to control my expenses on unnecessary products such as alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco, etc. After keeping all the records, I can control unnecessary expenses, which has helped to increase my savings. I have reduced my expenses on average by Rs.2000 per month by controlling unnecessary expenses. Last but not least, I would like to thank the Slisha Organization and Ganga for teaching us this very useful exercise.

Namaste Everyone,

This is me Sajan Shakya. I have been working in WAWCAS Program for almost four years. I would like to inform you all that I will be taking handover of Ganga’s Group since she left the office a few days ago. Therefore, I will be writing the Blog of Radha Joshi from now on.  I am sure you will be reading about the vicissitudes of her upcoming life. I will be writing about her experience and thought on Pocket Chart Analysis (PCA).

After the meeting, there were lots of queries and curiosity on my mind. I was dreaming to start my new business. Ganga informed me that there are a few processes, before selection, and after the selection, preparation training will start. I have shared the information with my husband, which I learned from the meeting. He is also very happy, and he encourages me to attend the next meetings.

On Wednesday morning I was doing my household work, and suddenly I heard the sound “Namaste didi!” I turned back and I saw Ganga was there, and I greeted back. I was shocked that she could find my home. I gave her a mat and we sat outside the house and started our conversation very informally. Ganga ask me about how I felt about the WAWCAS program and what I learned during the ISM. She also asked me, how my family felt about the Program. I replied to her that I shared everything I had heard at the meeting with my husband. He was also very happy and agreed to attend the next meetings and pieces of training. She picked out a white paper from her bag and wrote on that.

While we were talking, my 2 sons also came near to us, and Ganga started to talk with them. Both were comfortably answering Ganga’s questions, I was observing that curiously.  She asks about their name, age, grade, and favorite subject. My youngest child has not joined school yet, as he is just 3 years old. The elder one said that because of lack of schoolbag and school clothes, he could not attend school. I feel very guilty that I could not afford him. While us talking Ganga looked around the house.

My husband arrived at the same time from the jungle, where he went to collect grass for ox. I introduced him to Ganga, and he said, “Namaste miss”. He sat in front of me and started sharing things about the program. He asked about the program and duration of training because my mother-in-law couldn’t work, our 2 boys need care, and the cattle also needs feed. He shared that one man could not handle and managed all that stuff. Ganga questioned both of us about, how often my husband helps me with my household chores. I replied that he is supportive and helps me with every kind of work. I shared that other people do not help and listen to us. We felt oppressed by them. Ganga looks worried and did not say anything, but I could see the expression on her face. She asked me what kind of business I would like to start and we answered that both are willing to buy Goats.

I request her to have a cup of tea and Ganga agreed. I made tea for everyone. After drinking tea, I showed Ganga my house, kitchen, and animal’s shed. I showed her the place where the goat shed would be build. Ganga reminded me for the next meeting, that the meeting would decide selection for the program. I was excited about the next meeting.

My name is Radha Joshi and I am from Doordi-6, Dhodeni Lamjung. I am 28 years old. I live with my husband, 2 kids, and mother-in-law in a small house. My husband is an ordinary farmer. I have a very poor background.  I have 2 boy kids, the elder one is 8 years old and he is in grade 3. Due to my economical condition, he lives with his aunty at Chiti near Dhodeni. I am unable to give good education to my child. The little one is with me; he is just 2 years old. My mother-in-law unable to work due to her age and health condition and she stays with us. 

We have a small piece of land.  The land is very little; the harvested food is not even enough for three months. That is why I and my husband work in others’ fields for daily basis wages which are the only income sources of our family.

The first time I heard about Slisha’s WAWCAS program from my friend Madhu, I was very happy and eagerly excited to join the program.  I asked her about the next meeting and I shared with my husband the thing I have heard from Madhu and he was also happy and ready to support whatever was needed. On the meeting day, there was a different kind of excitement level inside me. I finished my household work very fast and went at meeting venue. Many women attended the meeting and I sat in the middle. The meeting started at 8:05 am. I saw 2 new persons and they were WAWCAS team. They started to share information about program. I was listening very curiously and carefully. I got to know that program is for women and children, they provide seed money to run or start or extend the business based on our skill and knowledge. I found the opportunity to be in the WAWCAS group. They talked about women’s groups, child groups, monthly savings, free vets, and technical services. They also discussed ongoing training like IBT*, livestock training, and training on Group Management and Business planning.  I found that there is a child group as well where my children will acquire knowledge and chance to grow up themselves very well.   

I was very happy for attending the 2nd information sharing meeting. The program is for needy women like me and I was happy to be part of the group. This will be the first group in my life. During the meeting, I questioned how to pay back the seed money and how much do we give as a contribution. The LPL*, Ganga, told me about all the processes of seed money clearance and about the contribution that money will use for another needy woman like me. By hearing this, I am more impressed with this program. Ganga gave one storybook about another successful businessperson. I am very inspired by listening to their story and how to succeed to run and extend their businesses. I saw many services and opportunities. Therefore, I shared my interest to join the WAWCAS group. I saw other friends were also happy and interested to be part of the program. At the end of the meeting, we discussed the next meeting as well. Ganga informed us that she would visit our home and discuss more in detail. 

I had mixed feelings at that time. I am curious and worried as well but I found hope. I am very excited to share this with my husband. 

Note: IBT is Issue Based Training, LPL is Local Program Leader (trainer) 

Dear Readers, 

My name is Ganga Tamang I have been working as a Local Program Leader (LPL) in the WAWCAS Program for 1 year in the Lamjung district. I am writing the Blog of Radha Joshi. I will be writing her blog for 16 months on 16 different topics. I am sure you will be following her ups and downs in this 16 months’ period.  

THANK YOU!  

With Regards, 

Ganga Tamang Local Program Leader, Lamjung District