The Heart of Enterprise

The Heart of Enterprise

Heifer Nepal engages its women’s groups in an ambitious project to take social change and economic possibility to the next level. One woman’s journey to empowerment shows how they’ll get there.

By Donna Stokes | World Ark managing editor
Photos by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

JIROUNA, Nepal — “Sister, don’t cry. Everyone in this world has a reason to live, so there is one for you. Everyone who is in pain and is hopeless has her share of happiness and hope somewhere in the world. And if you want, I will help you find that hope and be happy again.”

Ganga Khanal, from her sunlit porch in a village in Nepal’s southern flatlands, spoke these words to women who, like her, have felt voiceless and emptied of hope. Now a leader in a growing venture that harnesses the power of the group to start and expand businesses, Khanal’s journey shows how Heifer’s model of joining women’s hearts, intellects and savings on a small scale could someday bring self-reliance to an entire country.

Khanal, self-described as stubborn, driven and outspoken, traditionally not celebrated qualities in a Nepali woman, felt powerless to change a life cut in stone over centuries of tradition and culture.

“I could not give birth to a son, which devalued me in the eyes of everyone I know,” Khanal said. I could see them looking at me with pity and disgust because I was the reason my family couldn’t go to heaven.”

Hinduism, the primary religion in Nepal, puts the power to send a soul to heaven after death in the hands of the eldest son. Sons are also handed the role of primary breadwinners, the hope of the future. Nepali women, already struggling to be heard in daily life, bear the tremendous burden of producing a son or letting down their entire family.

“Things were strained between my husband and me, there were no discussions between us, and he didn’t listen to anything I said,” Khanal said.

Small farms in the village of Jirouna, Nepal stay busy during harvest time.

After she gave birth to a second daughter, things got worse. Seeking a son he felt his wife could not give him, Khanal’s husband married her sister and brought her into their home, a double betrayal that robbed Khanal of her last thread of hope. She fought with her sister; her husband hit her when she spoke up. She never had enough to eat.

Khanal learned from neighbors about a women’s group in her village that had savings and received animals in exchange for training. The group was looking for others in need to form a new group so they could pass on animals and knowledge. The promise of owning her own goats lured Khanal to the Heifer project.

Armed with this sliver of possibility, she rallied her neighbors. “I said, ‘Let’s do something. We are very poor people. We lease other people’s goats and raise them. If someone is willing to give us goats for free, why wouldn’t we take that opportunity?’”

Despite bitter opposition from her husband, she formed the Jagrit Women’s Group, completed Heifer Cornerstones and animal management training and received two gleaming black and white goats. The training in Heifer’s Cornerstones, which include Sharing and Caring, Accountability and other pillars on which Heifer’s work is based, helped Khanal find her lost confidence. And in a surprise second gift, the support of the group, she found a place where she could speak and be heard.

“Today I am something. I have substance; I have animals; I have crops,” Khanal said. “My group gave me the inspiration, the idea and the confidence to do all this.”

The Heart of Enterprise

The smaller Pushpalata Women's group in Jirouna makes candles, sold as part of the larger Shantikunja co-op and used to light homes during frequent power outages and for festivals. The candles earn them a profit margin of 30 percent on their investment materials.

What’s Next

Heifer believes in groups like Khanal’s as a foundation for transformation. Last year, Heifer began a new project in Nepal whose success rests on sisterhood and enterprise. Behind its ordinary name, “Values-Based Cooperative Promotion Pilot Project,” lies potential for homegrown social change and economic progress throughout Heifer projects in Nepal and the rest of Asia.

“If you have the backup of the whole group, the trust of the group, there is nothing you can’t do,” Khanal said. “They will be your backbone in everything and support you.”

Multiply Khanal’s growth by thousands of women in hundreds of groups, supported early on by Heifer and its project partners throughout Nepal. Participants received goats years ago, then passed on their gifts of animals and knowledge to another group. Then the groups continued to meet, build savings and offer loans, all on their own.

These long-established “graduate” groups, all built on the core values of Heifer’s Cornerstones, still have a uniting passion. They believe industry and entrepreneurship should serve the greater good, not just a few powerful players.

“The increasing enthusiasm of these groups, their spirit of cooperation and untiring commitment to explore more, forced us to think, ‘What next?’ ” said Neena Joshi, Heifer Nepal senior program manager. “They had already created capital—both financial and social. We needed a way for them to continue with their newfound confidence to find greater prosperity and a stronger voice in mainstream development.”

The new project that began last summer unites graduate groups into an economic enterprise known as a cooperative. Recognized and regulated by the government of Nepal, these co-ops are akin to corporations in the United States. The pilot project consists of 10 cooperatives in two districts.

“These newly established networks of small-scale farmers, or ‘social entrepreneurs’ as they have named themselves, are sure to become an irresistible force in the community and an example to many,” Joshi said. Heifer Nepal plans to expand the project to all the districts in which Heifer operates.

A New Store, Then More

In its store, the Shantikunja co-op sells rice, lentils and other staples grown by its members. Incentive money from the Nepal government allowed them to open the business, already a social center in Jirouna, where people gather for news, health services and goods.

Khanal sits on the executive board of the Shantikunja Social Entrepreneurs Women’s Cooperative Limited in Jirouna. About 20 members gathered outside the office recently for a regular meeting, the latecomers scooting into the colorful assembly on the front patio, to discuss their plans and dreams as piled-high banana trucks and rackety motorbikes roared past outside. Laughter bubbled up as a woman’s voice was briefly drowned out in the din, the pause allowing a deeper breath for an even stronger, more confident voice.

In just four months’ time, the women established a business plan impressive enough to receive more than $1,300 in seed money from the government. With that money, the group opened a store to sell rice, beans, chickpeas and other staples grown by their own members.

Shantikunja Cooperative comprises 14 groups so far, with 332 members. Each smaller group contributes to the larger enterprise. For example, Khanal’s original Jagrit women’s group makes candles and butter-lamp wicks and grows and transports bananas to be sold as part of the diverse Shantikunja co-op.

During the meeting of co-op members, several shoppers parked their bicycles in a colorful nest of leggy marigolds and deep-red velvet flowers that bobbed in the dusty breeze. They ducked into the store to buy Pepsi, toothpaste, laundry soap, tea, spices and other items displayed on orderly shelves along the turquoise walls.

For the project, Heifer helps provide training in management, accounting and market analysis for a few women, who then pass that knowledge on to the rest of the group. Heifer covers office rent, furniture and supplies for the first year. The rest is up to the women.

The cooperative also sells fertilizer to its own members, as well as to local farmers. In Nepal, agriculture makes up 34 percent of the gross domestic product, employs two-thirds of the work force and provides a livelihood for more than 80 percent of the population. Sensing an opportunity to help themselves and neighboring farmers, 15 members of the group are learning to make compost with earthworms. They plan to make the fertilizer to enrich their own farmland at reasonable prices. They’ll also sell it to other small farmers, making money while teaching others that organic fertilizer is better for the Earth and crops than chemical fertilizers.

“We’ve started from very small things that grew into bigger things,” said Sharda Poudel, a Shantikunja member in a bright green kurta who spoke up often during the meeting. “Gradually we started believing in ourselves that we can do anything if we put our minds to it.

”They are starting small, but their dreams are huge. When asked where their confidence, excitement and courage come from, half of the women, already leaders of their smaller groups, answered at once, their voices bubbling higher and louder, bracelets clanging as arm gestures grew ever bolder as each sought to be heard.

Yet each woman said the same thing: In the beginning they were shy and uncertain, but they drew energy from the group. The training gave them confidence, and as one achievement led to another, they began to trust that success is in their power. The opportunity to be part of this test project emboldened them even more.

There is now talk of hotels and hospitals, or a bank where their husbands who work abroad can send money home for fair rates. There are also more concrete plans to learn to make pencils, envelopes and incense sticks to sell in the store.

“The main objective of the co-ops is to develop the village and the country. It’s why they exist,” Khanal said. “I hope this cooperative will become involved in new industries and opportunities that my children and the children of the village can be involved in. It’s a dream we are working to make come true. It’s very tentative now, we just started our first steps. But that is the future we hope for.”

The Heart of Enterprise

Schoolgirls head home in Belsi, where graduate women's groups formed a cooperative as part of the Heifer pilot project. The women are working hard to provide better opportunities and future jobs for their children.

The Road Ahead

“We have a million ideas,” said Parbati Neupane, president of the Shantikunja enterprise in Jirouna, “but not enough money to implement everything.” All 10 groups need more seed money to invest in new businesses. Group savings are growing, Neupane said, but most of the money is out on loan and not available for immediate use.

Trust is another big issue. For group members, all they have worked for so far is at stake. The money they invested in the group and watched grow over several years is now pooled into a larger pot. Their only tie to some of the women with access to the money is Sita Poudel, the founder of Women’s Group Coordination Committee, a nongovernmental organization based in the Chitwan District of Nepal.

One of Heifer Nepal’s first participants, Poudel started her NGONGONGO in 1998 and works with many of the graduate groups. Poudel said it’s been a process for all the women to learn how to believe in each other, but the Cornerstones unite them. “What sets these groups apart is the training,” Poudel said. “These inherent values ensure there won’t be swindling, harm to the environment, greed. A co-op just focused on profit-making tends to lean toward the wrong things. I believe the Cornerstones are key to the trust, to the longtime sustainability of the cooperatives.”

There is also a general mistrust of traditional district cooperatives among all Nepalese, and for good reason. “Many of the others [non-Heifer cooperatives] have a bad reputation, have embezzled funds or used funds for the benefit of the few,” said Surya Bhattrai, a government officer who works with Heifer cooperatives in Chitwan District.

The Heifer cooperatives are different, he said. “They genuinely want to help people and help the members as well. That's the reason they formed this co-op. It’s a very genuine attempt. They are adamant about fulfilling their financial obligation; I found that very different in this cooperative. This group is one I would not hesitate to invest my own money in.”

Perseverance Pays Off

Standing on her front porch, her water buffalo lowing in the background, Khanal talked about her hard-won rewards. “I believed what I was doing would result in a bright future for my family,” she said. “And so I didn’t lose faith. I didn’t give up.”

Khanal’s husband came around too, a few months after she initially received her goats and a loan from the group savings. “It meant he didn’t have to beg at the feet of the village merchant for a small sum of money,” said Khanal of her husband. “He started helping me in the farm and with the animals. We were making enough money to get us by.”

Her husband saw the benefits of the project. He admitted he was wrong to discourage her and agreed that the women’s group has been good for the family. “He’s fully supportive now,” Khanal said.

Her yard now teems with chickens and thriving crops. “I grow bananas, lentils and vegetables,” she said. Her family’s finances are better and so is her self-respect. Now, she is working to help lift up others.“

People trust and believe in me and are inspired by me,” she said. “It just gives me so much more energy and confidence. We’ve just registered our cooperative and we’re moving toward a stronger future. And my group and my community tell me that I was right, and I was responsible for getting them this far.”

Khanal hopes her efforts will mean a better future for all her six children, four girls and two boys. “It was me who later gave my family two sons,” Khanal said as she watched her giggling grandchildren and neighbors play in the yard. “I used to be guilty as well in believing it was more important to educate or provide for my sons than for my daughters. But the trainings changed all that for me. Today, my daughter is in the army. My daughter has made me realize and understand that girls are no less than boys.”

Her 17-year-old son, Sudip, learned that same lesson from Khanal. “Looking at my mom I have changed my view of women, and I have so much more respect for them and confidence in them. I used to laugh at them sitting in their groups and thought they would never do anything good. But just seeing them grow through these years and seeing them buy land, build community buildings, form the cooperative, it’s just been so overwhelming.“

I have so much respect for these women who have created opportunities for people like me,” Sudip said. “The future looks bright for us because of our moms.”

Help the women of Nepal become self-reliant today. Give to Heifer’s project in Nepal now.