Nepal Trip 2021
After a year of waiting and long distance calls we could finally go to Nepal!
The purpose of our recent trip was two-fold:
To visit current projects and meet our candidates
Meet and discuss with potential value-aligned partners the setting up of a sustainable soap factory for the Musahar community in Chitwan.
Despite COVID-19 and the stringent requirements, we were so happy that we were finally able to go to our beautiful Nepal in March 2021. We had 2 main reasons for going. The first reason was to visit our current projects and meet and talk to our candidates as it had been more than a year that we had last visited Nepal due to the lockdown in Nepal. The second reason was to meet potential value-aligned partners who were interested in helping us set up a sustainable soap factory for the Musahar community in Chitwan, Nepal.
Week 1
During the first week in Kathmandu, despite quarantine restrictions, we were able to speak to potential partners who were interested in setting up a soap factory, help create a market for soap products and contribute to the whole value chain. We had inspiring discussions with Sustainable Future, Baha Spatial Agency, Sunworks and Smart Paani about the building of the factory and with Herveda Botanicals and Wild Earth about soap making and soap distribution and Ecoorb about sustainable packaging. What truly connects us is that these companies share our values in wanting to create social impact together within the Musahar community and economic impact in the region.
Week 2
The second week was spent in Chitwan where we visited the Farming Initiative, saw the progress of the Chicken Farm and discussed the final phase of the Driver’s programme with our candidates.
It was so wonderful to meet and spend time with the motivated and hard working women of the Women’s Farmer cooperative, in total 17 active participants. These women are managing the vegetable and chicken farms. We also paid a visit to their village and met with their community. It made us very proud to hear that they already sold 900 kilos of potatoes, 40 kilos of cucumbers and 25 kilos of bitter gourd.
We also spent time with the driving candidates to talk about their progress and next steps once they obtain their driver’s license in July 2021. It was great to see that most of them are really eager to start their own company or job as soon as they have their driver’s license.
To top it off we organised a team building workshop for the Sapana Group which included team members of SVSI (our local project partner), Sapana Lodge and Sapana School. We started with an early morning Yoga session followed by a workshop on defining an organisation’s mission and core values based on Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle principle. We concluded the workshop by planting three avocado trees, which symbolise the three core values that the group chose: Teamwork, Service and Honesty. On our next visit we will discuss the progress they made working towards optimising these core values.