Most Significant Changes Stories

A bit of money can change a life

A small helping hand can make the world of difference when you have nothing and get the opportunity to do it right. A micro finance loan made the difference for Hira B.K. and her family

By Malene Lærrke

15. March 2007

From a distance the sound of hammer against metal can be heard. Not just one hammer but many hammers. Climbing up the hill, balancing on a small path between a maize field and a slope a small community of cobber smiths emerges behind a wall of bamboo. Here seven families are living together and helping each other in Baglung Municipality ward 11, Upallachaur in Gairabari VDC. They make traditional Nepali cobber basins, bowls, pots and water jars which are sold in the bazaars in the neighbouring cities.

Hira B.K and her husband Ram Bahadur B.K have lived in Baglung for four years. They used to live in a small village three hours walk from Baglung where they tried to make a living selling cobber pots but they did not succeed.

“There was no school and we could not make any money and when we heard about this place we decided to move here where we could work together with other families, be a part of the DCRDC programme and be near the bazaar where we can sell our products,” explains Hira B.K. that has named her company Dhaulagira Cobber Pots Manufacturing Industry.

In all Hira B.K. has borrowed 45.000 rupees from former MS partner DCRDC’s micro finance programme.

“Before we entered the programme we lived hand to mouth and could only do work on a very small scale but the money from DCRDC has made it possible for us to buy more cobber and tools and thereby we can make more pots we can sell,” says Hira B.K who is a determined women with a stern look in her eyes. The words come out of her mouth without hesitation. She is proud of what she has achieved and is happy to tell about it.

Before the family could earn around 5000 rupees a month; today they can earn up to 12.000 rupees a month. The parents now have the money to send their three children to school, they have built a house in the village and they have bought a piece of land. “We have felt a lot of change for our family and our caste. In the past people used to cheat us when we sold our cobber pots but now we know how to get the right price. Today we can set the rate ourselves. We are also involved in the community and we have strong voices against discrimination. Today we are conscious about our rights and our socially status is much better,” says Hira B.K. who smiles when some of the other women in the village call her a business woman.

“I am happy about the way things have turned out for us. There were so many problems and difficulties but I was very determined and in our family we have learned that if we want something we can do it. We just needed a little money to get us going and change our lives but I was not sure we could do so much,” she says.

The plan for the future is to borrow more money from DCRDC to expand the current business. So far, most of the first loan has been paid back.

There are 30 families within the micro-finance programme under DCRDC. Some families have shops, others have started up poultry farming and restaurants and others again like Hira B.K. has started a business making cobber pots.