Trip to Nepal, 2-15 April 2024
On April 2nd we left again for our beloved Nepal. This time we had 3 main goals:
Source beautiful, handmade Nepali products made by women for our corporate gifts campaign and the Royal Christmas Fair.
Find the right partner to set up an entity for our Soap Studio.
Find a dedicated Operations Manager for our Soap Studio.
Kathmandu
The first week of our visit, we focused on finding new products in Kathmandu. We visited many potential suppliers for blankets, candles, cotton table sets, incense sticks and other products. Within the coming weeks we will have our brochure ready and we will share it through all our communication channels.
We visited Get Paper Industries, who are making all kinds of packaging material from recycled paper and farm waste. They made some very nice samples for us, and we will be working together with them on the packaging of our soaps and giftboxes. They also made our new business cards.
With Asif and Roshni, our soap experts, we discussed the way forward. They will be going to Chitwan in May to make the next big batch of soap.
Asif and Roshni, our soap experts
Fieldtrip
One of the highlights of this trip was our field trip to the Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation (KRMEF) together with the Musahar group, our local project coordinator Aliza, and our favorite driver Murali. We received a very warm welcome by Krishna and his team. What was very special to hear from Murali was that he had never felt so welcome in Nepal before. Normally, locals from a low(er) caste are not treated equally, so this really touched us and says something about the great team at KRMEF.
Krishna gave a very inspiring natural compost training which will help the Musahar ladies make the Eco Farm even more ecologically sustainable. Krishna bought the first rice harvest from the Eco Farm and is interested in buying the next harvest and other crops from the farm. We also discussed a potential partnership with KRMEF for the Soap Studio and the Eco Farm. A more in-depth update to follow.
Chitwan
After the fieldtrip we all went by electric van to Chitwan listening to Dutch and Nepali songs. In Chitwan we had a good meeting with our local partners Dhurba Giri and Barsha Giri. They have offered jobs to Rinku, Sukamaya and Rita at Sapana Design, making handicrafts, after we had decided to stop the paper mill (for now). The women are very happy with their new jobs.
Nanu, one of our drivers, had quite a severe accident with her electric truck. We met her and decided to pay part of the repair costs because her insurance did not cover the costs. Fortunately, she has fully recovered now and is driving again with a big smile, in her truck selling vegetables and fruits.
Baristas
We met twelve ladies who participated in the Barista training. Four of them have internships in hotels. The other ladies were provided with a list of restaurants and hotels that are interested in Barista interns. It is up to the ladies now to take the initiative to contact prospective employers.
Nature guides
We had two meetings with the nature guides to discuss their idea of setting up their own wildlife guide office. Tika Giri also joined the first meeting. He is a famous birdwatcher and wildlife guide and was one of their teachers during the training. He shared his ideas and challenges with setting up an office and that full commitment from the whole group is critical to make it a success. During the second meeting we shared our ideas, do’s and don’ts. The women will get back to us once they have made a viable plan.
Soap Studio
We interviewed 5 candidates for the position of Operations Manager for the Soap Studio. We involved the Musahar ladies in the decision-making process. They all had a preference for one of the candidates, which we will be announce soon, once we have all the paperwork in place. Goma, one of the ladies from the paper mill, will be joining the soap making team.
NIDISI
We also met with the NIDISI and the Sparśa team, who visited our projects. Their sanitary pad factory will open soon in Bharatpur and we are looking into ways how we can collaborate to promote women empowerment and job creation.
Despite the air pollution, we had a very fruitful trip to Nepal, and it was wonderful to spend time with all the women in our programmes.