Rupmati is very dedicated and active in community service work. She has volunteered for social work in her ward area. She is very good at tailoring and this skill has provided her identity as well as income. After passing the School Leaving Certificate (SLC), Shanti took three months tailoring course provided by CTEVT and since then she has been in this profession. She has been working with the local government at the ward level for various social activities and has also provided training on tailoring to women interested in learning the skill.

Disaster Experience 
Rupmati recalls the day the massive earthquake struck the country when she was in the exam hall to be certified with tailoring skills. She along with everyone rushed out of the building when it started to shake. There was chaos everywhere, hopefully, no casualties happened during the stampede. This still makes her nauseated.

As she had already finished the course on tailoring, Rupmati started making bags that were used for distributing the relief materials after the earthquake. She felt proud of her skill that it was useful in her time of need and her skill was servicing community people. She volunteered for relief distribution at the time. Even during the pandemic, taking all the precautions, she actively volunteered in relief distribution. During the earthquake, her business blossomed but during the pandemic, it came to a complete halt. While she was looking to learn new skills and expand her business, she was excited to be part of the  Udhyami Utthan Campaign and is happy to be associated with Thulo.Com. 

“Fostering Resilience of Women-Led Businesses (including home-based women producers) and Consumers” is a project being implemented by Thulo.Com and Enterprise for Management, Economic Reform, and Gender Equality (EMERGE). The project is supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Tayar Nepal - Improved Disaster Risk Management Project and also contributes to Udhyami Utthan (UU - https://udhyamiutthan.com/about-us/ ), an entrepreneurship empowerment initiative.

Experience as a Project Beneficiary
Rupmati, having a learning streak, has enjoyed each session of each module. She shared that she has recently started a poultry business along with her friends. She continued, “During the training, I learned about pricing and costing of the product and what elements one has to consider when doing business in partnership. Having clarity among partners will help run a smooth business in the future.” Rupmati, therefore, has prepared her business continuity plan for her poultry business and she has involved all her partners while making it so that there is a mutual understanding among them. This plan works as their strategic document and comes in handy while making various decisions.

Rupmati equally liked the session on digital literacy. She feels that more businesses need to get access to digitization at some level to progress as using digital technology is the current trend and many MSMEs are lagging due to limited knowledge. Therefore, Rupmati felt that she was fortunate to get a hands-on learning experience.
 
Future Plan
Rupmati wishes to continue her social work and help more women to develop skills to become entrepreneurs and earn income. She is equally passionate about developing the agriculture sector and wants to work with the local government in her ward to support the Agri sector.  She wishes to continue her association with Thulo.Com and with Udhyami Utthan so that she can get opportunities for more learning in the future.

Rupmati is a home-based producer.
Visit her Online Shop at Thulo.com/uu