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From Footpath Cobblers to Shoe Merchants

In one corner of the Pikhel settlement in Chhaling VDC of Bhaktapur live 36 families of Mungaratis. Being cobblers by caste, they are looked down upon as the dalits (downtrodden) and are treated worse than second class citizens by society. The men folk of this community carry on their work of mending and polishing shoes in the footpaths of big cities like Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. They have very little land, whose cultivation does not even provide them food sufficiency for three months in a year.

Mungaratis had skill and zeal in their hands, but lacked the resources to transform their skills into a sizeable income. When VDP was implemented, it opened up immense opportunities for them. The community members came together to form the Mahankal Yuva (youth) CO. Originally there were 40 members in the group of men and women. But later the women decided to form their own group and left the CO. The CO membership currently stands at 29. The CO members started meeting every week and collecting Rs. 25 from every member. Twenty-months later, their saving has grown to more than Rs. 1 lakh. With the loans they have taken from the CO as well with the credit capital from VDP, they have started expanding their shoe-making business. Many have started raising improved-breed of pigs for extra income.

The group’s economic standard as a whole has gone up significantly. Most of the members have taken rooms on rent in nearby Kamalbinayak and have established shoe-shops. Couple of members each have pooled together to open up shops. Some others have been working out of their homes. The shoes that they produce are being sold to shops in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. The CO has been thinking about purchasing a big shoe-sewing machine for the benefit of all the members. They are waiting to mobilise funds for this expensive machine.

The only hurdle in the community’s progress then had been drinking water. But they have solved that too. The other residents of Pikhel were the Karkis and Thapas, who were said to be one step above in the ethnic ladder. Considered untouchables, the Mungaratis were allowed to use the waterhole only after the rest of the "upper caste" people were done. Sometimes, in order to fill a gagro (pot) of water they had to wait for 3 hours.

During their discussions at the weekly meetings, the CO members’ concern about improving their lifestyle would culminate in improving their water supply. After a lot of discussion, they decided that they could tap on the water of the Moonga Khola (rivulet) through gravity lift flow system. With Rs. 75,000 from VDP’s seed grant fund, Rs. 15,000 support from the DDC and Rs. 20,756 from the VDC, Rs. 15,000 from the MP’s fund and Rs. 18,000 from the CO’s saving as well as Rs. 58,361 worth of voluntary service from the CO, the drinking water project became a reality. The Mungaratis now have a water tank in the neighbourhood and no longer have to wait in line. In fact neighbouring communities also come to this tap for their needs.

With the rapid progression of their economic status, and their activities in helping the entire community, the members of Mahankal CO feel empowered. They no longer look upon themselves as "downtrodden" and second class citizens. They have realised it was just the lack of opportunity and inputs that had placed them in the lower rung of the social ladder. Given the opportunity, they, the "have-nots," demonstrated that they can leave the so-called " haves" behind in the quest for development and upliftment.

The Mahankal CO has become a model in the district of how committed people, despite their poverty, or social standing, can achieve a lot, and were awarded the 1999 IDEP award for their accomplishments in the fight against poverty.

The Receding Veils

Till a couple of years back Mrs. Phoolkali Gupta’s life was nothing out of the ordinary compared to the women folk of the terai town of Maharjgunj in Kapilbastu. She spent her days inside the house, sequestered from the world outside the four walls of her home. The 38-year-old Phoolkali lives in a family comprising of her husband, brother-in-law, and five children—four daughters and a son. The eldest daughter is 22 and the youngest, after the 8-year-old son, is 5.

Phoolkali’s husband used to go from town to town selling grocery items that he carried on his head, while she stayed behind at home, helping him a bit with the business. Their total investment in their business was Rs. 5000.

Phoolkali’s life behind the ghoomto/ghungat (veil) was the story common to all the women of the village. The women in Maharajgunj, typical of all madesiya females, were completely dependent on their husbands, with absolutely no money that they could call their own. All the decisions were taken by the male folk of the family. The males firmly believed that the women’s work was all indoors. Then things started to change.

When VDP was implemented in Maharajgunj, 22 women in the settlement got together and formed the Laxmi CO. Phoolkali, with her 8th grade literacy was chosen as the manager of the CO. The group started meeting every month and started saving. Attending the meeting gave the women the opportunity to share experiences, and slowly strated filling them with more and more confidence. Phoolkali’s educational background, and her indomitable spirit to make an impact in the community has helped the group a lot. She underwent NFE training and started a literacy campaign in her community. There are 27 women in the NFE classes that she is taking. Under her guidance, the CO members have initiated campaigns towards health and sanitation among others. The group members have been building toilets in their homes, and have been making the entire community women aware about the issues of sanitation, family planning, breast-feeding, using pit latrines, and sending their sons and daughters to school.

The money that the CO members saved every month has now grown to Rs. 24,000, and their cumulative investment stands at Rs. 82,000. All the CO members have availed of loan from the CO and have set up various income generating enterprises like sweetmeat, grocery, paan, chaat shops, tent house, cosmetic store, fertiliser/feed depot, installing tube wells, raising buffaloes and vegetable farming. Phoolkali also took loan to expand her husband’s grocery business. She opened a shop for the grocery and also sells sweetmeats that they prepare at home. The shop’s current stock stands more than Rs. 40,000.

The CO members have also availed of Rs. 1,18,000 credit capital and have utilised the credit to open various stores, livestock, vegetable and poultry farming. The interesting thing is that each member household of the Laxmi CO is involved in an income generating enterprise.

Phoolkali, meanwhile, as manager of the CO had the opportunity to take auditing training and is now auditing the expenses of all the COs in her VDC.

Thirteen of the members (including Phoolkali) recently underwent a training in candle-making. The women made and sold candles during the diwali festival. Phoolkali also has plans of involving the entire group in knitting industry, but the plan is on hold now due to shortage of funds.

Initially the husbands of the CO members were sceptical, and even upset that their women were venturing out of their homes. They resented the women attending their weekly meetings, and their consequent ‘exposure’ to the outside world. But bit by bit things have begun to change. The enterprises that the women have been undertaking has given them economic leverage, and has been instrumental in raising the standard of the living of the family.

The status of women in Maharajgunj is slowly changing. They now attend meetings without fear, and are not conscious speaking out in front of a crowd. They are involved in decision-making process in the CO. They decide who gets the loans, where the irrigation channel should be dug, or where the pit latrines should be constructed.

The indicator of women’s empowerment in this town in Kapilbastu can be measured somewhat by the length of their veils. If previously the veils used to hide their faces completely, the veils that the members of Laxmi CO now wear just cover their hair!

(Post Script : Phoolkali was awarded for her role in fighting against poverty at the individual and community levels by UNDP at the IDEP function in October 1999.)

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