Rupandehi Siyari rural municipality ward no. Shanti Tharu’s daily life has changed now.

Until a few weeks ago, Shanti, who was limited to household chores and farming, is now busy making handicrafts made from bamboo and thatch, which are used in the Tharu community.

Not only peace, Siari ward no. Tharu women of 4 and 6 are now engrossed in turning their traditional skills into modern businesses.

Saraswati Tharu, who had seen her mothers traditionally weave dhakia and different types of baskets, also had the simple skill of weaving dhakia. But there was a lack of training to make it professional and modern.

Sharing her experience, Saraswati, who participated in the 15-day training in making Tharu handicraft materials, says, ‘Dhakiya weaving is common in the Tharu community, but even I did not know what kind of dhakia the current market is looking for and how to finish it. This training has helped me to give finishing touches to the material and to understand the market demand,’ she said.

Joint Campaign for Peace (COCAP) in the coordination of Siyari Rural Municipality, Ward no. 13 women of grades 4 and 6 were trained to make handicrafts used in the Tharu community.

Rima Bisi, President of Lumbini Province of CoCap, informed that COCAP has conducted training in making handicraft materials with the aim of increasing self-reliance among women through skill development and small enterprise promotion program for social security and livelihood. COCAP has been working in the fields of human rights, peace restoration, social security, conflict management, etc.

COCAP, which has 43 organizations in 29 different districts of the country, has been providing livelihood training to the women of the community along with capacity development and institutional strengthening of the affiliated organizations.

At the same time, the training was provided with the active participation of local Dipjyoti Small Enterprise Group and local Tharu women for their livelihood.

Dhakiya, pooja baskets, gundri, etc., which have been woven for household purposes in the Tharu community for years, have now started to take a commercial form. Reena Tharu, trainer of the training, said that with such training, the traditional handicraft materials, which are limited to any community, will get a commercial market.

Kamala Joshi, a participant in the training, said that while the plastic and various metal materials prepared by modern machines have occupied their place in the market, they have revived the handicraft materials that carry the identity of the Tharu community but are about to disappear.

Shanti Tharu, a participant of the training, says, ‘We used to weave dhakia at home, but we did not think that we could sell it or earn from it. This training has brought happiness to poor families like us. Now we don’t keep the learned skills at home, we make it a means of income generation and move forward.’

During the 15 days, the participants learned to prepare decorative materials, dhakia, puja baskets and various artistic items for daily use as per the demands of the modern market. Shanti said that to make livelihood through handicrafts easier, it will be taken forward as an entrepreneurship.

Women like Sona Tharu, Lakshmi Tharu, Saraswati Bik, Lalita Tharu, Phulkumari Tharu and Ramkumari Tharu, who participated in the training, expressed happiness that they no longer have to be dependent. They have already planned to jointly start a business and market the product.

Siyari ward no. Sher Bahadur Gurung, Ward Chairman of 6 said.

“The local government is always with us in the journey of transforming the learned skills into businesses individually or in groups and making women independent,” he said.

Ward Secretary Dolraj Banjade said that linking rural women with entrepreneurship is the real development. He said that the ward office will support and cooperate for such programs in the future.

Pushpa Bhusal, central president of Co CAP, said that the 15-day training has shown the traditional skills of women not only professionally but also shows them the way to social and economic security.