Lal Maya and The Kurilo Women’s Society
ASHA - Nepal - Food Security
Photo: Jan Stürmann
Their crop yields have been so good that they are able to eat better and sell the extra produce.
Ten years ago, Lal Maya says, she could not have imagined her life as it is now. From her mud brick patio, she points out the view of her rainbow-colored vegetable plot where she grows leafy greens, squash, oranges, and corn. And on the Nepalese hillside below her one-room thatched-roof cottage, where she lives with her elderly husband and their disabled 9-year old son, she keeps her four goats.
75 Cents Per Month
Standard microfinance institutions usually exclude membership to women over 50, considering them not able-bodied enough.
Today, outside on her patio, a group of women sit on woven mats listening to her speak about the importance of savings. Lal Maya, 54, proudly hands over her monthly savings to the group’s treasurer, her neighbor, who records the amount in a book: 50 Nepalese Rupees, around 75 cents. This is the average amount they save each month.
For the last three years, Lal Maya and 19 other ethnic Tamang women in the Kurilo Women’s Society—a group supported by ASHA—have been providing each other with small loans to invest in income-generation activities. Lal Maya is the respected elder stateswoman of the group.
Standard microfinance institutions usually exclude membership to women over 50, considering them not able-bodied enough. Try telling that to Lal Maya! Since the loan funds in Lal Maya’s group come from group members themselves, they set the rules. Women like Lal Maya, who are the sole supporters of their families, are welcome to join.
Improving Crop Yields
The Kurilo Women’s Society also participated in ASHA’s organic agriculture training that includes free seeds and tree saplings to get members started. Their crop yields have been so good that they are able to eat better and sell the additional produce. They have also learned to naturally preserve their own seeds, saving them costly treks to the city.
Recently, the women pooled their money and purchased a plot of land. They also received a grant from the local government for a warehouse to store their crops. Rather than having to travel to sell their crops, they now sell their vegetables in bulk to buyers who come in from Kathmandu. As Lal Maya sees it, her crops are thriving, and so is she.
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