Sunita B.K.
May 2023
I feel like I have joined this program very recently, but it has been 16 months already. Time flies really fast. Right now I am overwhelmed to express my mixed feelings. I have come this far, which I never thought I could. You know my all ups and downs, which I have faced throughout this journey. Now I believe in myself and know I can defeat every obstacle coming in my direction. I feel so amazed looking back at myself – how I was before joining the program and how I have become now. As a chairperson in the group, I experience both sweet and sour behavior, and it uplifted my self-esteem to deal with any kind of challenges. So basically, I have learned from my mistakes.
Both 7- and 4-days training, all the IBT (Issue Based Training) topics, meetings and home visit have developed my social and economic knowledge, which helps me to level up my existence. Accordingly, tools like PCA (Pocket Chart Analysis), SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), PSRP (Participatory Self-Review Programme) and diary writing also has brought improvement with my unmanaged behaviors. The most important thing is that I prioritize my work and manage time. I have come to realize the value of time. I can see the positive changes in others women in the group also, it’s all because of this program. I hope I could become an inspirable person, even if it’s for one person only. We all know we cannot be part of WAWCAS again because it is once in a life program, but we still wish to be part of this program again and again. We are really happy knowing about local NGO. Tribina told us we are going to become part of the WAWCAS Lamjung organization. I really like the concept of this, and I think we found a good path leading us forward. It is going to enhance empowerment of the women. It gives us hope of opportunity and chance to transform our situation. So, we are truly looking forward to be in the Local NGO.
I have a huge responsibility of my group and I’m going to fulfill it with all my dignity. I have a vision of where I will be in three years: I have planned to increase number of goats and I will operate the goat farm along with a chicken farm as well. I know it won’t be easy, but now I have the confidence to do it. I will always work hard and chase my dream until I get there. Hopefully, I will become a successful business woman and enhance my economic status as a wealthy woman. I have developed a strong bond with Tribina, so I’m feeling a little bit sad that we won’t be close like we are now. She always says that she will always be there for us and we can call her any time if we need.
I can never thank enough the WAWCAS organization and the program for providing us with this beautiful opportunity. I’m so grateful for this amazing experience. WAWCAS program converted me into the best version of myself. I would not be here without the Slisha organization and support of Tribina. Since this will be my last blog, I would like to thank my readers and I hope you appreciate it.
Dear readers,
First of all, I want to thank Sunita B.K for sharing her life’s circumstances as I got a chance to learn so much from her. I feel so pleased to see positive changes in her and I’m sure she will do more and achieve more in the future. I would like to thank Slisha for providing this chance and also I would like to thank our readers who have been connected through this journey.
Thank you!
Kind regards,
Tribina Budhathoki
LPL, Lamjung
April 2023
Participatory Self-Review Programme (PSRP) is a tool for us to elucidate our social and economic situation and behavior. All the IBT (Issue Based Training) topics and PSRP are inter-related with each other, and Tribina always does follow-up to determine, if I am able to meet my plan – or not.
The other day Tribina came to my house and helped me to fill out this form. At first, I felt a little bit uncomfortable to share my personal situation according to the questionnaire. If we had to do this in the group, the actual condition wouldn’t come out. I had many actions which I needed to do. In the group, Tribina had trained us in various topics: What is the problem? How is it done. So I started to handle things according to the discussion in the meetings, and this helped me a lot to improve my situation. I got a chance to change it in a positive way.
I used to think, that I could never make my relation good with my husband, in-laws and some neighbors. After the training, I changed my way to treat and connect with them. Therefore, the programme assist me to maintain a healthy relationship with them.
Tribina keeps following up in every home visit. And motivate to improve my unhealthy behavior.
The process of doing PSRP is actually simple. Every topic such as conflict, violence, sanitation, women’s right and so on, has different questions associated with the topic, and each question is linked to four answer options; always, never, sometimes and not applicable.
We are supposed to read the questions and tick the right answer. This tool helps us to reflect upon our life. I answer the question genuinely so that I could further understand in which situations I have to refine myself. This technique has been playing a vital role for me to realize myself.
I used to think, that I did well in every activity. But those questions made me realize how careless I have been. After finishing Implementation 1 Month, I found my situation bad, and I needed to work with myself to improve. Now, I have finished Implementation 12 Months. When I look back at myself, I see many changes in various expects of my life. I will continue to use this tool as it helps me realize where I am and where I am going.
March 2023
My two sons are part of a child group. I like the concept of child groups. In the process of growing up, our children have become so careless on everything: they have become so rude, stubborn, always playing games on phone and so on. Because of this attitude of our children, child groups have become the one element to attract us to the WAWCAS program. Parents like us are very tired of children’s behavior, so we thought it would play a vital role to bring positive changes in our children. I have observed hope of change in the children during sessions of the child group.
The children of our community are really excited to be part of the groups. I wasn’t expecting they would respect or obey Tribina, but later I saw they were enjoying the meeting and got a chance to play games. After the sessions of the first child group they kept asking Tribina, when will the next meeting be?
According to my personal thoughts, the child group has brought so many changes to my two son’s behavior. They have started taking bath before they go to the child group meeting. Nowadays, they concentrate on their studies and they do their daily activities according to the schedule they have made during their session. It brought a lot of improvements to them. Now, they have overcome on playing mobile games. They have started giving time for us, ask what we are doing or ask if we need any help. They respect us and listen to us more than before. It makes me so happy. The children get a chance to learn from each other and they function as role models for each other. They learn the importance of teamwork, and therefore it helps them to understand social life and they develop social skills.
Children are affected by bad friend circles, so I am always worried about it. We have the habit of always scolding them to do their things and never give them time enough. But now I have learned that we must give them time. If we expect our children to be a good person, at first we have to become a role model for them where they see and learn from us. Therefore, I am working on it.
After every session of the child group my sons come to me and tell me what they have discussed in the session. In the child group they receive information about child rights and development, nutrition, sanitation and so on. My oldest son helps me on diary writing as well. And they have decrease having junk foods and instead focused on homemade foods. These behaviors show that they are lifting their personality.
All the children in the groups are adapting to be respectful and good human beings. Child groups are a very influential role in their lives and I believe the children will become responsible and good citizens in this country.
February 2023
I still remember Tribina told us that nature has provided all of us with “Time”. Time is a non-renewable resource. It is equal for every living being and for nonliving things. It is an important topic: If we carefully reflect it can bring a major change in our daily life.
This topic helps us to be aware of time management. When Tribina asked us of our roles, I was quite confused. What is the link between time and our roles? We discussed the roles we have in our daily life, and each of the roles implies different goals. In our society, women have very sensitive relations with in-laws, and small misunderstandings can bring bitterness in the relationships. Therefore, 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 can succeed in business by prioritizing each role.
We also talked about the time we are spending each day. How much time we spend on issues which are not important and not urgent. Very honestly speaking, I never ever thought on this , but when I checked my time I can see that every day I am spending 2-3 hours which give no result.
After this session we learned, we should plan our daily activities and spend our time effectively on productive work (business). We should avoid unproductive activities so that our work would be valued. After realizing the value of time, I have been scheduling my activities and giving more priority to my business instead of household chores. On every home and business visits, Tribina 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 don’t spend time just gossiping on the phone. I used to always leave my household activities for tomorrow, but now I have improved this habit. And it makes a good impression on my children as well. I recognize time never waits for anyone: so, if we are eager to do something, we must start from today because tomorrow never comes.
January 2023
Every month I have been writing my daily record of income and expenses in my diary. On the day Tribina came to my house, I was busy with my livestock chores. I greet her and offer her to take a sit. She asked me how I’m doing, and she also talked with my husband and sons to know how they are doing as well. I showed her my diary and she showed me how to write it correctly. In all these activities we have to learn during training, we identify our own situation and work on it to change the things, which need to be changed. Generally, in PCA (Pocket Chart Analysis) we can see the total overview of our income and expenses. So, I began to understand my monthly income and expenses. And I was shocked to see my expenses! I found out why there had been no savings by me until now. Thus, this tool is very effective, as it helps to open the eyes of people who have been drowned in the depth of unwanted expenses. This topic has touched my heart and made me realize, why we could never upgrade our living standards.
We had filled the PCA form during the seven days training, and at that time I found so many unnecessary expenses. In particular, I had decided to do the PCA with my husband, which could help to decrease his habits of buying cigarettes and alcohol, and to make him realize the main reasons for the high expenses. Now he has started to control his drinking habits. Every month Tribina is following up on our plan which we have prepared during our PCA. I also keep telling him about our income and expenditure so that he can be aware of it. I’m avoiding serving junk food to my children and also reducing meat in large quantities. Instead, I’m focusing on green vegetables and fruits according to the season. I showed the form to my husband, and he recognized the vast difference in expenses after six months. We are glad to see our unwanted expenses getting decreased and we are more focused on saving nowadays.
Tribina was very happy to see my positive changes. She always keeps telling me, that I shouldn’t let my good behavior, which I have achieved through this journey, change. I assure myself to never let go of my improved behavior for the rest of my life, because I recognize it is the way to step up one stair of my journey to success. Those who can actually understand and implement the value of the PCA tool in their life will experience a lot of progress. Therefore, I commit myself to teaching other friends and relatives who are not in our WAWCAS group.
December 2022
Seeing my improvements after joining the WAWCAS Group, I feel so good and proud of myself. This month our group has changed the executive member as per our norms. I want to explore new things, and I am always eager to learn and actively participate in every activity. My friends have recognized these qualities, so they have chosen me as the chairperson of our group. I was happy because I get a chance to learn and develop my leadership skill. After that, I promised myself to be a good leader. Leadership experience comes from any position of authority you hold in your personal or professional life, not just from being in an upper post. In the 7 days training session, we learned that to become a leader, one should have qualities. As a chairperson, I am trying my best to facilitate our group and provide equal opportunities to every woman. I believe in doing things together and not giving an order to the members as a leader. When there is a group, there are various thoughts and opinions of people, and we have to merge our thoughts and make the same goal.
There are many problems that arises during our meetings and during our businesses, but I never forget my responsibilities. During the training, I learnt to guide them and help to give direction for what is wrong and what is right. Later, after the meeting, I review myself: did I make a mistake, or did I get rude? If I realize any mistake I go to that person, talk with her, and apologies for my mistake. This makes our bond stronger. I want to follow all the norms as we agreed during the training: every member should equally participate in the group activities. So, each and every one can be aware of what’s going on in the group.
Each of us has our roles and responsibilities but one friend in the group did not return the group’s money due to problems in her family. At that time, I was in a hard situation thinking what am I going to do? I asked Tribina and other friends, what decision should we take later. Tribina helped by suggesting to double up the interest rate for the group loans if they were not repaid on time. All of us agreed with that proposal, and we were very thankful to Tribina. She is always there for us, and she motivate and instruct us for the well-being of our group. I motivate all the members to increase their saving amount so that our group budget will increase. Because of that, we can conduct and participate in the different small programs which will help to enhance our budget. Most importantly we will be admired by the people and motivate other groups to act like us.
During the short experience of being a representative of the group, I have learned there is peace and relief in giving propriety to other people. Problems and challenges come and go, but I never forget that we don’t grow, if we don’t face challenges.
So lastly, I want to thank you for this opportunity.
November 2022
On this month Tribina came up with the new topic to discuss in IBT. I was very curious about the topic this time because most of the problems were already discussed by us during the previous months. After I finished my household chores, I went to the meeting on time. Tribina was already present, and after all the members were also there, she started the meeting by reviewing the topic we discussed last time in IBT. Then she told us the topic of today was HIV/AIDS. She asked us “what is it”? or “have we heard this word somewhere”? We have heard about this disease but have little knowledge about how it is transmitted to others. She asked: “haven’t we learnt in school about it”? We replied by saying that we’ve already forgotten and that some of us are uneducated. She asked us: “do we know someone who is fighting with this virus”? Firstly, we hesitated to tell but as she created a friendly environment, we could tell her about it. We told her that there are more than 5 people around in our community who are suffering from this virus.
HIV was transmitted mostly because male partners are employed in a foreign country and then it is transmitted to their female partners due to unsafe sexual contact. The Ward have provided free medicine for the HIV patients and different safety devices for males and females, but still there should be awareness program on this topic. We cannot openly talk about it and Tribina was shocked after listening to our stories. Then, we asked her what are its symptoms and how we can prevent being infected with HIV. Then, she told us important information.
On this session we got a chance to learn about HIV/AIDS. The full name of HIV is human immunodeficiency virus, and it is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system and interferes with the body’s ability to fight infections and diseases and then it leads to AIDs (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by HIV infection. It is the last stage of HIV.
It was first found in Africa in 1981. The first case of AIDs in Nepal was reported in 1988. According to a recent estimate, approximately 50.200 people are infected by the virus in Nepal. There is no cure to this infection, but the person has to live with it. In the rural areas of Nepal there are many people who do not know about this virus, but everyone should be aware. Tribina told us about its causes, symptoms, prevention measures and what behavior we should and should not do with infected person.
We understood that HIV can transmit through unsafe sexual contact, so safety measures should be used during sex. Also, injection of illicit drugs or sharing needles, and contact with infected blood should be avoided. In addition, HIV can transmit from mother to child during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and infected mother should not give birth to a child.
The symptoms of HIV infection are fever, headache, rash, sore throat, weight loss and pain in muscles and joints and so on. After having these symptoms, she/ he should visit the doctor. Before sharing needle or blood we should determine if it is tested or not.
The people infected by the virus are sensitive, they are seeking for love and support, but I have seen some people are really disrespectful to them. If they get abuse, they can go through demotivate and depression which may lead to lose their interest of living.
Therefore, we can help people those who are infected – by showing love, respecting, supporting, motivating and involving them on social activities. Tribina told us to share with our family and friends that we learn on this session so, that we can spread some education from our side too. In our society, we don’t openly talk about this issue, instead we hide it and very shy to talk about this matter but I realize this shyness may lead to the way of infection easily and widely that’s why problems won’t solve until and unless we speak.
This session was genuinely impactful. I hope our government will manage various awareness program on each society about such problem. I’m thankful towards Slisha and WAWCAS program for providing such influential topics every month. I really appreciate your effort.
October 2022
It has been six months since my business started and it is running smoothly. But I also wanted to add another business along with this. I thought of an idea for adding local chicken, but sadly I didn’t have money for the investment. Then immediately, I thought of our group loan which could help me out on this. Later, I felt relieved. I thought of talking to Tribina to get advice about my idea. On n the saving meeting I talked with her, and she positively motivated me to continue with the idea and we discussed and planned for the additional business. She helped me to develop a new business plan, and she suggested, I could call and talk to the technical assistant if needed.
On the month of September, I took a loan of Rs 8,000 from a saving meeting. Hence, I’m so thankful to my group which gave me the chance to explore more businesses. Group saving plays a vital role in our life; whenever we need help it fulfills our necessity. According to the plan, I brought twenty local chickens along with their fodder for three months. I was very happy with my decision, and I was sure my small poultry business would run well because I have learnt useful information about livestock. This business can get a profit very fast compared to others, so I decided to give it a try and invest in this business.
After I added the new business, Tribina came to visit my home. I was feeding my chickens. They were growing fast and after Tribina sore that it was going well, she was so happy with my productivity. She also took the picture below. After one week of adding the poultry farm, I started harvesting vegetables in my kitchen garden using chicken manure which will help to save my money from buying vegetables. Since this month, they lay eggs and I can sell them too.
Every single day I think of how to enhance my business. I can say that I will never stop doing business because this is the only way of improving my economic status. I have full faith in myself and I’m going to improve my living standards a little day by day.
Thanks to everyone.
September 2022
Childcare is the basic rights of children, which they should get. Children are very sensitive at all ages before they turn into adults. Food, home and clothes are basic shelter for every living being on the earth. WAWCAS program manage to provide us IBT (Issued Based Training) every month with new topics. We discuss on those topics which originate from the session of SSA (Social Situation Analysis). Here we talk about different problems, which we are facing or experiencing in our daily life. We get a chance to learn and talk about various issues. On the 25th day of every month we have IBT training. Tribina come with new subjects to discuss with us. She believes that to solve problems we need to discuss them.
This training helps to get knowledge about various things. It works as an advice for us to perform practically. We have done six IBT topics till this date. Among them child rights and child development topics help me a lot to improve my parenting responsibility. There are many activities which I was doing in a wrong way. I hardly spend time with my sons. I never get concern about their study, friends, school surrounding, what problems they are facing and so on. I never used to communicate on such things with them. But after the session of child rights and child development, I realize that if we expect our children to become a successful and responsible person, we should give them time, love, and support, and show them how much we are concerned about them. From this they will learn from us to love, have respect and be a good human being. It will help them to develop emotionally from a young age. We should ask them how their day at school was, what have they learned, what activities did they do and so on. This helps them to reflect on their day and learn from this. We should not lie with them; it causes negative impact on them. Child friendly environment should be created for children at school as well as at home. Children have five ways of developing process which are physical, educational, social, emotional and ethical development. Children have rights to mature on these processes, so it is our duty to provide a suitable habitat for them. Children learn quickly by observing, hearing, motivating, and repeating. We used to compare our child with other children which is a bad way of inspiration. It may build them aggressive and egoistic in nature. We should focus on nutritious foods instead of junk food, motivate them to play different physical games instead of mobile games to develop our child physically, mentally, and socially. If we must teach them why it is good or why it is bad, we should explain the reason. I was very touched when Tribina summarize this by saying; “Everyone wants their children to become a better citizen. Just because you like them to be a better person it is not enough. It all depends upon how well you behave with them and how well you bring them up. What you grow is what you get. Conduct a discussion on “Children will frame their future on how well we have behaved and nurtured them”.
First, we should find out, what bad behavior we perform in front of them. Then reduce all this bad behavior and focus on good behavior to encourage them to be better. After this discussion I guess I have improved a lot with my responsibility. I thank Tribina for providing such valuable session about children.
August 2022
I got this precious diary on 2nd last day of 7 days training. Tribina gave this diary to every individual of us. She explained how to use it on a daily basis and the importance of diary writing every day. The diary has a page for every date and here we can write what we did, what we are going to do another day, how we feel and what we have achieved that day. We received stickers to post in the diary to remind us of our meetings every month. She taught us that we should use at least half an hour on diary writing. This will help us to keep our thoughts organized, works as a best reminder for years and years, boost our memory, inspire to be creative and so on. Since that day it has become my closest friend which I adore the most. Every day I give time for myself, which helps me to reflect on myself as a person and work to improve on it. Whenever I feel lonely, sad, or angry I spend time with my diary and feels relieved from my mental stress. It improves my writing skills and even my handwriting is improving now. I can express my feelings in my diary, which I couldn’t express to the people. My diary never judges me.
I have been keeping my daily record of income and expenses. I’m a very forgetful person, so the record helps to remind me and make me realize, how much I spend on buying unnecessary things.
I write my SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis every month. It helps me a lot by decreasing my negative thoughts and behavior. I have set a goal and to achieve that goal the SWOT analysis explain what I should do and what I should not do. I planned according to the mission for each year in my diary.
Every month we have the IBT (Issue Based Training) meeting: We are supposed to take the diary with us to the meeting and show it to Tribina. She will read all of them with a smile on her face. As always, she motivates us to do more and write more. This month I also filled in the form of PCA (Pocket Chart Analysis) and SWOT and I can see the vast difference between now and before. Sometimes I feel proud of myself, and this program has become my helping hand to show me the bright phase of my life today. And I will always be thankful towards the WAWCAS organization.
July 2022
The full form of SWOT is Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. It is an important tool which helps to identify and analyze our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats through a personal, business and group level. For the first time this tool was discussed by Tribina and Pabitra on the 7 days training. It was such a new topic for me. First, I didn’t understand it but after the facilitation of Tribina I was more clear about it. We always judge other people but this time we were supposed to review our self by ourselves. They taught us that we should give ourselves 30 minutes’ time every day and write in the diary which helps to analyze our weaknesses and work on it. We get a chance to identify our strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats. The aim of doing this tool is to maximize our positive factors, minimize our weakness factor, recognize, and grab our opportunities and cut out all the threats that affect our personal and business life. This training plays a vital role as a guidance to identify and realize me as a person; why I am here, what are my role and goals?
I was talking with my son at that time Tribina came to my house. I was very happy, and she greets me and ask how am I doing? I used to write my daily activities in my diary, and I was excited to show my diary to Tribina. She saw my diary where I have written my feelings, my daily income and expenditure, my self-review and so on. Before training, I was really quick tempered as a person but after the session of SWOT, I can also feel that I have overcome my aggressive nature. I never kept the record of my financial activities but now I keep daily records. I used to judge people very quickly but now I try to understand the related person then I go to the conclusion. We always take these things as granted but never realize how important role they play in our life. Now I believe that “it’s never too late” to change our weaknesses to strength and challenges to opportunities. Tribina told me that she was really happy to see my good changes and she praised me a lot and always motivates me to keep up my good work.
June 2022
Issue Based Training (IBT) is the session where we discussed various issues we have gone through in our daily life. We discuss topics based on the issues coming from Social Situation Analysis (SSA). Every month we have two meetings; saving meeting and another is IBT meeting. During IBT meeting I am always very curious about the topics and what are we going to learn in the meeting. I completed all my household chores and went to the meeting spot. All my friends were coming. Tribina and Krishna came to the meeting and then they started the meeting.
First Tribina warmly welcomed us and then she asked us why we were at the meeting. We shortly discussed it and she told us the topic; it was of Sanitation. She asked us what is sanitation according to us? Then we replied in turn: to clean, to keep ourselves neat and clean, to keep clean goat shed and so on. She told us that we are used to clean a lot in our daily life but still there are many things that we neglect. She explained that sanitation is to clean things that we use in daily activity, to clean our self, our home, our surroundings and so on. To prevent different kinds of diseases and to live our life healthy, happily and respectfully in the society.
Likewise, Krishnahari made us discuss different types of sanitation; personal, household, and environment hygiene. At first, we should take care of our children and our own hygiene. Similarly, our house and surroundings are important. Then he discussed advantages and disadvantages of sanitation. We already know lots of things, but we never practice it in our daily life. Sanitation plays a vital role in our lives. We discussed menstrual health and hygiene. Menstrual hygiene is a hygienic practice during menstruation, which can prevent women from the infection in reproductive and urinary tract. In Nepal, menstruation is surrounded by myths and misconceptions with a long list of “do’s” and “don’ts” for women. Menstruation and menstrual practices are still clouded by taboos and socio – cultural restrictions. Washing the vagina regularly is very important and if you are using a cloth pad you have to wash it properly and dry it in the sun so that all bacteria are inactivated. While Tribina was discussing, I was thinking about my situation. I am very shy to dry my cotton pad in the sun, but I commit myself from now onwards to keep it in the sun after cleaning.
If we take care of sanitation, we will be able to live a healthy life and can achieve our dreams. But if we don’t give importance to sanitation, we will suffer from various diseases early in our lives and this takes a lots of time and money to recover. We discussed various diseases that could arise from poor sanitation such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery as well as typhoid. We should properly dispose or manage trash which impact the quality of the environment. We always think about our self, but we never realize the waste material we throw in the environment which badly hamper the environment as well as on global warming.
After all this discussion at last we played the picture matching game. We shall find our match and should explain what the picture tells us, e.g. we should wear separate flip flops while using the toilets, we should cover the water jar properly, we should wash our hand before and after cooking and using the toilet and so on. Then Tribina told us to take care of sanitation and to practice the things in our daily life which we learned in the session. We finished the session by doing review and appreciate the session they gave and went home.
After the meeting, I realized that sanitation is very important in our life. I am more careful on sanitation then before. I did not care on small things which may leads to sickness and can cause bad effect on health. So, after this session we are clearly aware that prevention is better than cure.
I am so thankful towards organization for providing such useful training.
May 2022
This was the first training I have ever attended. I was really excited and full of many hopes. I was wondering; what are we supposed to learn at the 7 days training? It is such a long period time, but each day has its specific objectives according to the subject, game, and story. I’m so overwhelmed, where should I start to tell about the training? After staying in the training I realized, there are many things we are doing in our daily life, but not in a managed way. The training was very interesting and refreshing.
I went to the training on time and all the other members were also present. I saw Tribina, Andika and Ganga were presented at the training. They welcomed us and introduced themselves first and then, they made us give our introduction in a very new and unique style. We were supposed to find our partner according to the picture of fruits and vegetables. Normally we introduce ourselves by saying our own name and address but here we were supposed to tell our partners name, address, business of interest, behavior they like and behavior they don’t like. After discussing with our partner, we introduced each other and got to know each other in a better way. There are so many new things we get a chance to learn. We had a lot of group activities which build up our knowledge and ideas. When I present myself in front of other people it helps to increase my confidence level and motivates me to take part in such activities. I love the stories which have hidden massages in it making it easier for us to understand and remember. We got the opportunity to write reports and evaluation of each day which revive our memory of what we learnt in yesterday’s training.
We played many games. Among them I like the color touching game a lot because it teaches us that we don’t have to go far for what we need but if could be inside us. Wse just need to identify it. Then, we learned about importance of group, leadership, saving and loan, effective meeting, market management, interest calculation, swot, time management, business plan, PCA and so on. Each day we learned new things which bring changes in my daily life. After the session of time management, I realize that I should fulfill my responsibility to make my relation strong, according to the goal. To reach my goal, I’ve started managing time for all the relations I have. We should give plenty of time to our business rather than spending our time in unproductive things. Especially, PCA (Pocket Chart Analysis) has changed my life. Before this session I never kept records of my economic circumstances, so I had no idea how much I spend or how much I saved. This never improved my living standard. But now I have started doing PCA which helps me a lot to prevent paying out on unnecessary things. This training assists me to realize myself as a person, I find my strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Therefore, I could enhance my strength, reduce my weakness, grab my opportunities and overcome my threats. At last day of training we received seed money which brought lots of faith in our life and I promised myself to always give continuity to the business and become the successful business women.
Hence, the 7 days training has taught us so many minor things which has a bigger advantage in it. This training is my once in a lifetime opportunity which is really effective. so I’m grateful to the organization and trainers of WAWCAS program.
After many meetings both 7 days training and 4 days’ lives stock training were finished successfully. We got seed money and I was very excited to start my first business with the hope of so many positive changes in my life. But also, a little bit nervous at the same time, if my business will work out good or not. As we already plan our business at 7 days training, I was very clear that I should work through my business plan. So I did according to it. I constructed a shed for goats with the help of my husband according to what I had learnt from 4 days training. It took 5 days to build the shed, although I have the resources available near my house, so it was a little easier. Before I bought the goats, I had to be prepared for all the essential things that are needed for goat to survive. Then, after the preparation of all the requirements I bought 2 healthy pregnant mother goats.
And the best part is that the next day one mother goat gave birth to one baby goat. I was very happy and overwhelmed, it gives me more energy to make this business big. During the 7 days training I sore myself as a successful entrepreneur within 5 years. Now, completing the first step of my business, I have full faith on myself that I will make it happen. I was so in hurry to tell this news to Tribina. She came to my home after a few days to observe did if I started my business. I showed her my goats and it brought big smile on her face and she congratulated me. I can feel her happiness in my happiness. She asked where did I buy those goats? How much did they cost? If there is problem or not. She told me if there will be any problem, I can contact the technical assistant of Slisha. At last, she again praised and motivated me to do better and she left my house to visit another member’s business.
I’m grateful towards the organization for motivating me to become business women and providing such useful and inspiring trainings. I promise myself to give continuity to this business and do more hard work to reach my goal.
Welcome to the part 2 of my blog. As you all know, I’m impressed by the objectives of WAWCAS program. Before ESR*, Tribina came to visit my home, she filled out the women form and we had a conversation about my personal life too. At 3rd ISM* we already confirmed the date for next meeting. On 16th February, we decided to gather at Nayapauwa at 11:am so I was all set for the meeting by finishing my household chores. I was really curious about the meeting, I heard the topic was ESR, but I had no understanding about it. We all were waiting for Tribina and Ganga. They arrived on time. And Tribina greets us and started the meeting by warm welcome and review of the last meeting. Then she asked what is in our minds when we hear “poor”? And who are the poor people through our perspective? We answered her questions by saying poor people are those who don’t have large amount of land, bank balance, unemployed, couldn’t afford good health service and quality education for their children and so on. Similarly, she asked who are rich people according to us? Then we replied her by saying rich people are those who can afford quality education for their children, good health service, having their own vehicles, large amount of land, bank balance and can afford anything they want. After this discussion she thoroughly explained what ESR mean. As far as I understand the full form of ESR is Economic Status Ranking and it means in which category we belong according to our economic situation. I wasn’t aware of this before. The program is for needy women and definitely not for high class people, so the aim of doing this is to find out which women meet the objectives of for the program. I have learnt that according to our government there are 4 phases of ranks which are as bellows:
- People who can live with his/her own property for 0-3 months are ranked as ultra-poor.
- People who can live with his/her own property for 3-6 months are ranked as poor.
- People who can live with his/her own property for 6-9 months are ranked as medium.
- People who can live with his/her own for 9-12 months are ranked as non-poor.
She had brought the chart where all the structure of ESR were ready and she also brought the card with our names in it. Then she started calling our name in turn and we were supposed to post our card in the right rank where we belong. One of my friends post her name on medium category, we told her that she wasn’t belonging to that class. Later Tribina asked her why she posted her name there? And she replied that she was embarrassed to post her name on poor category. Therefore, Tribina motivated her to reconsider. I was very clear in which class, I’m going to post my name. Accordingly, she called my name and I ranked myself in poor category. It was my honest decision which I’m not ashamed of.
After the session finished, she announced to us that along with me 24 members of women were selected. I was very happy to get opportunity to form our own women group.
Likewise, she discussed about social map. Social map is the location of each particular member in the area. This session is held to show the other staff of the WAWCAS organization so they can easily reach the area where our program has been implemented and find out the home of each member easily. She taught us the things we need to be aware of while drawing the map. We should always keep our head to the north side, symbolized the places, buildings, road, tree, temple, river, bridge and so on. And then, she told one of us to sketch our social map – and Bimala drew the map of our group. After finished drawing the map, she made us reflect on the session and then she fixed the date for the next meeting. Tribina was very thankful for our active participation.
There were no limits of my happiness, I realized I had learned something new from this topic. I thanked her personally and expressed my feeling how grateful I’m to be the part of WAWCAS. And then I went home with a smile on my face.
Note: ESR is Economic Status Ranking, ISM is Information Sharing Meeting
My name is Sunita B.K. I’m 31 years old and from Rainas Municipality 6 Dhamilekuwa, Lamjung District. I live in a small house with a small family of 4 members. I work as a gardener at the small park of Naya Pauwa, my husband works a manual labor job and my two sons are studying at a government school. The elder one is studying in 6 grade and the small one is studying in 4 grade.
I have been struggling since I was 16. At the age of 14, I got married to an inter- cast (Kami) person which is also called lower cast in Nepal. My family and husband’s family were against our marriage. We did not get any support from them as well as relatives and neighbors. I felt so depressed and demotivated. My economic condition is very poor. At that time, I was studying in grade 6 so I had a lack of awareness and don’t know the right path as no one was supporting me. I took a wrong decision. I still regret my decision.
We stay in a small hut in others’ land because we do not have our own land. However, time passes as always, my husband started changing his behaviors he did not look after our kids, drinking alcohol, make relation with other girls are his daily routine and totally unsupportive. I was the one who became the backbone of my family. I started do things alone to feed my family.
I used to wish there is an organization that will help me to change for a better life, and then I heard about the WAWCAS program implemented by Slisha from Sita Ghimire. I had no idea about the organization and its objectives. I was very curious to hear about the program. I participated in the meeting where I got chance to meet three young female leaders from the WAWCAS program, Tribina, Ganga, and Andika. They share the information about organization and program. I liked the program very much. It sounds very effective and productive. I asked if any member didn’t pay back the seed money and group loan what will we do? Tribina replied we are not like a finance institute each woman has to start the business and must pay by themselves. So, there will be no risk to staying in the WAWCAS group. In the group, each woman will support each other whenever needed; this support could be advise to business, practical help, intermittent stop of repayment, access to money from group savings etc. I was so impressed about program. I liked the concept of 7th and 4th days training, business and IBT* training facilities, free veterinary services and child group formation. In child group, our children will learn to be visionary and responsible citizen.
I asked Tribina how many members are needed to form a group? She answered twenty to twenty-five members. In addition, I told her we really need this type of program. The criteria and objectives of WAWCAS are for the women like us. And also, I said to her I will inform all the women around me about the program. Tribina showed us many books of other WAWCAS women who are successful to change their life through this program. That was inspiring for me and other women. She said to go to our family, think about the program, and share with the family members. After the discussion, we thank them, confirm the second ISM* meeting, and went home full of thoughts.
Notes: IBT is Issue Based Training, ISM is Information Sharing Meeting
Dear Readers,
I’m Tribina Budhathoki, writing this blog after discussions with Sunita Magar B.K . This is the very first time of my blogging experience. I’m really excited to blog with her for the sixteen months where I will update her experience as a WAWCAS group member, her ups and downs through her business, changes in her daily life. She is a very strong and hardworking woman. I am confident that I will change her life as she expected. I hope you are reading and enjoying this blog.
Thank you!
Yours sincerely, Tribina Budhathoki, LPL, Lamjung