How many female furniture builders do you know? Chances are, not many.
In rural Nepal, it is even rarer to find a woman who is trained in carpentry — and especially one who has the business savvy to succeed.
Taapsee Chaudhary, 34, is one of them.
Building women’s leadership and economic empowerment
Taapsee, a hardworking wife and mother of two, works in a carpentry shop connected to her home in Nepal’s southwestern region near the border of India. It is rare to find a female carpenter in this community, or anywhere.
But Taapsee has always been a hard worker. She has raised piglets and goats, and she once had a dangerous job carrying buckets of cement on a construction site just to make ends meet.
More than a year ago, she learned that — thanks to compassionate donors like you — Lutheran World Relief was offering technical training courses to help youth and women increase their incomes. She signed up because she and her husband previously had to take out loans with high interest rates in order to pay for medical care and other necessities.
“I thought I could help my family,” she says, when asked why she enrolled. “I was hoping I would be able to support my own home ... and the financial state of my family.”
Taapsee with her two daughters, Sansi (7) and Shyamsi (2), in front of a piece she built
Taapsee chose carpentry over other options like tailoring or cosmetology because her brother-in-law has a small but established furniture-making business, and sharing resources would benefit them both. Unsurprisingly, she was the only woman in the course.
With your support, Taapsee completed a three-month program at a technical school. In addition to learning the ins and outs of furniture building, she also took courses in financial literacy — including how to save and do expenditures, how to create a business plan, and other essential business skills. Your generosity also provided hand tools, such as drills, clamps and saws, to help launch her new trade.
Learning a trade increases income
Now that she works in carpentry, Taapsee has more than tripled her income — making it easier for her family to afford necessities like nourishing food and school fees. She has begun saving a little money each month, and she hopes that eventually her family will be able to purchase a small plot of land on which to farm and build a sturdier home.
Taapsee demonstrating her craft
Today, her goal seems more possible than ever. Taapsee says building just one bedroom set from the shade of her own porch can bring in the same amount of income as laboring for a month in the hot sun on someone else’s farm.
And while she works to build the furniture, her husband goes out to buy lumber and negotiate prices — a cooperative effort that ensures she has time and supplies for her craft.
“I can do as much as any man.”
Best of all, Taapsee’s confidence has skyrocketed. Other women in the community know she has taken this unique path, and they ask how they can follow in her footsteps. She also feels like a positive role model for her two young daughters, whom she hopes will be able to get a good education thanks to her hard work and increased income.
Taapsee at her workshop on her front porch
“Previously, this work was primarily done by men,” she says. “I now have the confidence to do things on my own. Because when you have the skills in your own hands, you can create products yourself and sell them. In carpentry, I absolutely believe I can do as much as any man.”
Through this project, more than 500 women and young people in vulnerable, Dalit and indigenous communities in Nepal have received support to attend technical training, launch small businesses, market their products or services, and receive education in financial literacy.
To those who, like you, who have made this opportunity possible, Taapsee says, “They’ve provided me with a helping hand. They have uplifted my confidence.”
Thank you!
