Helping Themselves

by Surendra Phuyal

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Before microcredit was introduced to Lamadanda, Yasoda Bantawa recalls how it was like being newly married and constantly struggling while trying to keep her small tea shop afloat. “We didn’t have money and were facing extreme hardship,” she says.

WORTHWHILE VENTURE Thanks to a loan, Yasoda Bantawa and her husband now run an eatery that is popular among locals and tourists.
Photo by Bikas Rauniyar

Now, with the start of the Lamadanda Women’s Self-Help Centre 4 years ago, and a small loan sourced from the Kathmandu-based Center for Self-Help Development (CSD), life is better and Yasoda is happier.

“I borrowed 10,000 rupees (about $158) from CSD, expanded my shop, and turned it into a restaurant,” Yasoda says, as she and her husband prepare a typical Nepali meal consisting of dal (lentils), bhat (rice), tarkari (seasonal vegetables), and other Nepalese delicacies for their customers.

Working together in the roadside restaurant near a busy bus stop, the couple earn up to 40,000 Nepalese rupees ($635) a month. “Which is not bad,” adds her husband, as he prepares food for rushing customers.

“We paid the amount back in a year’s time, and now there is no debt to be paid. We are relieved and at the same time very happy to be part of the Group,” says Yasoda, who proudly leads the center. Both she and her husband originally hail from the remote district of Udaipur in eastern Nepal.

The people of Lamadanda have embraced the couple as their own with the Bantawa restaurant a popular eatery for locals and tourists alike.