Some 9 years ago, Sajani was looking for income-generating opportunities when her friend suggested that she join a yomari making training session. After the training she was connected to the Village cafe by SABAH and her financial independence journey is going well. She is happy that with the skill of making yomaris with different fillings in it she can offer traditional food with a twist to her customers. She proudly shares that she can generate enough income now and doesn’t ask for money from her husband for her expenses. Life became much easier when both (she and her husband) took care of family finances.

Disaster Experience 
Sajani said when the lockdown happened due to the pandemic The cafe where she sold yomaris also closed. This led to earning no income at all. Even her husband could not go to work due to nationwide restrictions. She and her husband together were running their family and with both sitting at home idly she worried for her future. They used up the savings they had and cut down on their expenses by using minimal basic needs. Her heart broke when she could not fulfill the simple demands of her kids. She had a very hard life and was constantly thinking of when this pandemic would be over. 
Slowly when restrictions started to lift and her husband got back to work, things started to get a little better. With time now that people are vaccinated and even cafes have opened for service, Sajani also got back to her work. While she is earning, Sajani is looking for opportunities to enhance her knowledge as well as business skills. Therefore, she feels happy to be associated with the Udhyami Utthan (UU) campaign and 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
Sajani shared it was a good learning experience to be part of the project. While she had enjoyed the overall training modules she shares that having learned the importance of creating a business plan for one’s business to plan out for normal and unprecedented situations will come in handy and help you have a smooth operation. 
Sajani also realized that if we could provide a packaged healthy food item then it can even sell through an online shop. She shared, “ Social media is a very powerful tool to reach a larger market and after digital literacy training I have learned different ways of marketing through social media to attract the attention.” Being seen is very important for a business and social media allows being visible to mass at once. 

Pandemic had not only affected Sajani financially but emotionally too and she appreciates that the session on Mindfulness was also included in the training provided to them. This session helped her have positive energy and she wished she could have taken this session earlier.
   
Sajani also liked the webinar on Banking and insurance. She has realized that various banks have subsidized loans for women entrepreneurs while having a registered business is essential.
 
Future Plan
Sajani plans to be prepared for any emergency and therefore will have some savings from her income. She also wishes to have a small store of her own so that whatever she has learned to date on entrepreneurship she wants to try out and be successful. She wishes to continue her association with Thulo.Com and Udhyami Utthan as she wants to be updated with future opportunities.
Sajani is a home-based producer.
Visit her Online Shop at Thulo.com/uu