Change agents – an inspiration for many women
These change agents have actively contributed in their community for forest governance strengthening activities, plantation, community adaptation plan preparation and
implementation, women leadership development issues, control women & domestic violence, livelihood improvement program, and so on…
Basanti Devi Rana from
Dhangadhi cluster
There are many people in our society who do
not hold any particularly distinctive positions, but
whose contribution towards the development of
society has been remarkable. Similarly Basanti is
also one of them who is living in Krishnapur VDC2, Kanchanpur’s freed Kamaiya settlement along
the Laljhadi Corridor. Illegal felling, open grazing,
and excavation of sand and stones from nearby
streams are major threats to corridor. Basanti Devi
and her team’s effort towards forest conservation,
community development and coordination with
distrct line agencies are praiseworthy. Basanti has
become president of Jayalaxmi CFUG, after handed
over to community during 2012 and she is getting involved to fulfill her responsibilities.
They have been successful to control forest fire along with community people’s active and
ontime participation. Her dedicated nature and coordination with district line agencies has
helped in implementing community adaptation plans (like deep boring, bioengineering to
control flood, open grazing control, etc). She has established Bijay Sal protetion plot within
community forest and also planted same species in open space in community areas so as
to declare “Bijay Sal Model Village” in future.
These days she is supporting her community for various activities like skill based training
(related to basket preparation) to poor and vulnerable Tharu women. She is promoting
Tharu culture dance by training youths and supporting them with dress and instruments
used during Tharu dance. After all it will help them to establish homestay in Mukta kamaiya
settlement and provide earning means for people.
Sabitri Thapa Magar from
Gorkha cluster
Sabitri is no ordinary woman now. Active in
community development activities through
community learning and action center since
the initiation of the Hariyo Ban Program. Her
journey began as one of the CLAC participants.
Her dedication and hardship leaded her to be a
local resource person and started many other
community learning and action center at her own
effort.These days she’s been leading real grassroots
community work in many village and CFUGs in
Gorkha Municipality through community outreach.
Sabitri’s deeds can be best summed up as “her
courage, hard work and commitments have inspired
family members and other women too”.
These days she is supporting her community for various activities like women leadership development program at community level and supporting equipments (like cutter) to
trained women for mushroom farming, etc.
Acknowledgement: USAID funded Hariyo Ban Program and CARE Nepal/Hariyo Ban Program
Field Officers and Field Coordinators of CARE Nepal/Hariyo Ban Program
Prepared by: Deepa Shrestha
Photo credit:
1st row from left to right (1st by Mr Ramesh Khadka, 2nd and 3rd by Deepa Shrestha)
2nd row from left to right (Ramesh Khadka, Deepa Shrestha and Sonam Ojha)
Meena Malla from
Nepalgung cluster
Bhagwati Chepang from
Makwanpur cluster
Meena Malla, a resident of Nepalgunj sub
metropolitan city-25 in Banke district, is
a role model in her village and has been
applying herself every time to facilitate the
poor, excluded and deprived communities.
As a dedicated person, she has mainly been
facilitating community learning and action centers
(CLACs) and community organizations like
CFUGs, motivating the poor and underprivileged
people to undertake various income generation
and community development activities something which could enable them raise income
and access basic services and opportunities. She
herself being a role model farmer, women discuss
with her their aspirations and works they wish
to pursue, and also share with her their very
personal family affairs, matters related with their
children’s education and health in order to get solution to it. In this way she has built a
strong rapport and bond with poor communities in her village.
Bhagwati Chepang if from Haandikhola-7,
Makwanpur who has been working for uplifting
lives of Chepang communities through her
active involvement in Laampakha CLAC and
also transforming her life too. Bhagwati and
Laampakha CLAC is trying to make known
about their chepang community which is the
backward indigenous nationalities living in the
remote and sparse contours. She says “it’s due
to Lampakha CLAC initiated by the Hariyo Ban
Program that we have get rid of many social
evils like smoking, we are proactively involved
these days in maintaining cleanliness around the
home and community, encouraging other also
to keep a clean in environment, deforestation
control, and also we have learnt about forest
fire control”.
These days she is supporting her community for various activities like providing educational
support to poor students, scholarship opportunity to eleven poor students, vegetable
farming training to farmers in Faram tole, etc.
Sabitri BK from Kaski cluster
Women living in rural communities of developing
countries like Nepal have to struggle a lot to make daily
earning and sustain their life. It is also true for Sabitri,
one of the dedicated and woman living in simplicity in
Aarukharka Village Development Committee (VDC) of
Syangja district. Sabitri and her community learning and
action center (CALC) women were actively involved
in governance strengthening activities (as a result 50
% women representation in executive committee of
CF has been successful). She supported in installation
of more than 100 improved cooking stoves and coal
stoves as a stove master. Her dedication led her to be
coordinator of the ward citizen forum in Aarukharka
VDC during last year (fiscal year 2071/72) and
successfully completed her role and responsibilities
that made her to be recognized as one of the loyal and
active ward coordinator in Syangja.
These days she is supporting her community for various activities like medicine distribution for primary health services (PHS) in 8 different schools in Arukharka VDC; supporting
single, dalit and poor woman with shelter house as tailoring shop; tunnel farming support
to poor household (that is to earthquake affected household); awareness training on caste
based discrimination, etc.
These days she is supporting her community for various activities like training course
related to sewing and tailoring to Chepang women from her community. They will also be
provided with sewing machine to some poor women for their livelihood improvement.
Bikan Mahato from
Chitwan cluster
Bikan Mahato,is a poor labourer from
Ratawol village in Krishnassar Buffer Zone
Community Forest Users Group (BZCFUG),
Kawaswoti – 10, Nawalparasi district, Nepal.
She says-‘I have always tried carving a path
of courage and continuous effort through
the hardships of my life”. She expresses her
and community learning & action center’s
achievement as
- anti-alcohol campaign in Ratawol village
- lunch allowance saved to construct a hand
pump and constructed deep boring
- managed rampantly growing grasses by harvesting once every month through a charge system i.e,
NRs 50 per person
- managing about 3 hectares land in collaboration with CF
- CF medicinal plants called Paarmarojaa harvested and sold to a business group
These days she is supporting her community for various activities like awareness on GESI
issues, training on sewing and tailoring to 35 poor individuals. Trained groups have started
training other women groups in Ratwal. Some of trained individuals have managed sewing
machine and started tailoring whereas some of them had joined tailoring shop to enhance
their skill. It is being alternative income source to poor women. They have managed done fish
farming in about 0.1 ha. 1500 fingerlings were being reared in pond.