Work for women and families in need

The project is based in Lalitpur, in the Kathmandu area (Bagmati province).

The goal

The main goal is to give job opportunities to women who are on their own, or who have to provide for their family, and to people in vulnerable conditions.

The key idea is to move away from aid for its own sake, except in the first stages of the project. Regularly paid work gives a person dignity: with a monthly income she can plan her own life and her family's.

How it works

Our fundraising helps new activities of any kind (crafts, farming and others) get started: buying the first machines, renting a shop, support during the start-up phase. Alternatively, the people the project is for join existing local businesses that are willing to work with the association.

In the first stages the association guarantees the salary, or pays for the hours worked, until production and sales allow the activity to support itself.

The association also helps the activities become self-sufficient by selling the products of the businesses that take part in the project: it organises events and market stalls at village fairs and on every occasion that can give the products visibility.

The activities

Respecting local laws and culture, the activities are mainly:

• making everyday clothing (T-shirts, shorts, sweatshirts, socks…);

• producing typical Asian products such as tea and spices;

• local products that can be sold at markets and stalls in Italy and in other EU countries.

How the funds are used

• buying new tools and machines for production and packaging;

• the travel needed to develop the project;

• fees for taking part in markets, fairs, events and stalls;

• everything needed to make and distribute the products.

There is an indirect benefit too: raw materials and everything else are bought where the project takes place, supporting the district's real economy.

Helping does not mean lifelong assistance

The first obstacle is making it clear that helping does not mean assisting for life, but for the time needed to create work: a secure livelihood comes from lasting employment.

Working with local associations

Wherever possible the association looks for synergies with other local associations, to find common ground and give the projects more strength together. Associations that house women left on their own, or that care for orphaned children, people with disabilities and elderly people who are not self-sufficient, could all benefit from working together.