Most
women in Nepal are economically dependent on their fathers, husbands,
brothers, and sons. But the women of Chingha, a hill village overlooking
the Arun River in the remote eastern region, are changing that through
a successful new business enterprise led by a remarkable woman named
Kopila Rai.
Recognizing that the local tradition of weaving, using
fiber from the allo plant (stinging nettle), had potential to supplement
her
community’s income, Kopila organized 19 village women to
establish a cloth production cooperative.
Chingha is three-days walk
from Tumlingtar, where the road into eastern
Nepal comes to an end, and a basic landing strip brings small planes
with goods and travelers from Kathmandu. Kopila’s village has
no electricity or running water, and is accessible only by a steep
mountain path. Deep in the Makalu Barun area, where The Mountain Institute
has worked for 15 years, the village is nestled high in the mountains,
not far from Mt. Makalu, the world’s fifth tallest peak.
Kopila
works long hours to care for her two children (and she is pregnant
with a third), keep her household running, collect and process
allo, work with her team of weavers, and attend literacy classes
made possible by the extra income generated by her enterprise. In
2004
she received a Bridge Builder Award from the John F. Kennedy School
at Harvard University, and traveled to the United States to accept
it. Kopila described her journey as “fantastic…like a
trip to the future”; and she returned to Chingha more determined
than ever to help others like her improve their business and technical
skills. The Mountain Institute is proud to work with Kopila Rai, a
true “mountain hero”.
TMI’s work in the Makalu
Barun region of Nepal has been funded by the Netherlands Development
Agency (NEDA), United
States Aid for
International Development (USAID), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation, and other organizations and individuals.
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| Women from Kopila's village selling their
allo cloth in Kathmandu |
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