This post was originally published by Empower Generation, which merged with Pollinate Energy to form Pollinate Group in 2018.
Kalpana Chaudhary, age 23, is a resident of Ramshikarjhala Village Development Committee of Kailali district located in the far western part of Nepal. Having married after completing the 10th grade, she had no previous professional experience of any kind when she first met our Program Coordinator Kabita Subedi in Kailali.
Kabita recalls her first meeting in 2014 with Kalpana, a shy girl, not ready to speak up. Now, she is a sales agent for Isharika Urjah Trade Center (IUTC), a woman-led enterprise in the Kailali district supported by the STEM Programme – a 1.7 million GBP DFID funded, Mercy Corps implemented program, working to ‘Support the Education of Marginalized Girls in Kailali District.’ Project work includes making solar lights accessible in order to improve girls’ study times and learning outcomes and training girls in business skills with the goal of improving their opportunities.
As a sales agent for IUTC, Kalpana helps CEO Mina Chaudhary increase her sales in the area by promoting the solar products through door-to-door visits and by conducting small group meetings. Kalpana sells solar products to households and earns her living. Prior to being a sales agent, she was a housewife, taking care of her family and little boy.
Kalpana says that she did not have a single penny of her own. Her husband then worked in neighboring India, and she shares that when her son asked to eat chow mein (stir-fried noodles), she was unable to feed him due to lack of money, and she felt guilty for it. Sometimes when she wanted to call her husband in India, she could not because she could not afford to charge her cell phone. When Kalpana was served momo, a common Nepali dish of dumplings, at lunch after a meeting with Empower Generation, she confessed that it was the first time she saw and ate momo.
When Kalpana was selected as a sales agent for IUTC among the other 30 eligible candidates, Empower Generation provided her with business skills training and sales and marketing training in September 2014, along with 13 other women with the support of the STEM Programme. From then on, she has worked hard and has sold solar lights to many households thereby earning income to support herself and also building her self-confidence. The shy girl that Kabita knew in 2014 is now an active businesswoman, owning her own cosmetic shop in Dhangadi market.
Earlier I was very scared to speak to people because I thought I knew less than them, but slowly as I started to sell solar products, I built my self-confidence. I received exposure and experience from Empower Generation and the STEM Programme, which gave me the courage to start a business of my own.
We are proud of women in our network like Kalpana who showed the courage to be independent. We are more than happy to see the previously shy, unconfident girl take the step to move to the city and start a business on her own. We wish that her business flourishes and that she stays empowered!
We are proud of you, Kalpana!