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CLEAN FUTURES
A story of empowerment Ragini (24 years old, name changed) lives with her family in Itahari village in the Sunsari district of Nepal. The large family, consisting of Ragini, her mother, a younger brother with his wife and son, and a younger sister, live in the slum area near a dam. Ragini, her brother and his wife are the only earning members of the family. Her brother and his wife work at the riverside, collecting sand, while Ragini has her own retail shop. Ragini’s youngest sister studies in class 5. Ragini’s father died ten years ago of Tuberculosis. As the family didn’t own land or property, they had to move into her mother’s maternal house. Her mother struggled to sustain the family by herself. Now, she manages the house while her children earn the family’s livelihood. Her life turned around three years ago when Ragini learnt about Voice of Children’s (VOC) interventions in her village in partnerships with ChildHope on building the community’s capacity to meet their water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs. As part of this, VOC facilitated women’s savings and income-generating activity groups in the communities. Group members are encouraged to explore the viability of building their own business, for example poultry farming, tailoring and sewing or sanitary pad making. The project team trains the women on the required skills and encourages them to start their businesses through collective savings. In addition, the women are also educated on WASH and how to adopt good practices, which benefits their entire families.
