Dhan Maya Shakya, 36, resident of Bungmati, Lalitpur, received basic and advanced woodcraft training from SABAH Nepal and is doing wonders with her skills. Prior to receiving the training, Dhan Maya worked in a craft factory in her locality to utilize her leisure time after sending her children off to school and managing the household work. She knew how to carve simple designs for which she was compensated with little amounts of money. After a while however, she realized that the time and effort she was investing doing such simple work was not well-worth it. That is when she decided to participate in the basic wood carving training under the Parya Sampada initiative. This training led her to learn about the craft in a formal manner and she was immediately able to turn her newly learnt skills into a profession, she started taking orders from the local wood craft factory which increased her income by a significant amount.

She expresses, “I decided to start my own woodcraft business which is registered as “Pragati Woodcraft” and am happy to have received assistance from SABAH Nepal, and it would have been hard for me to do it on my own.”

To further her expertise, she decided to participate in advanced woodcraft training which taught her techniques such as 3D carving of statues of god and goddesses which has high demand in the market. She shares, “advanced training made me more confident with my already existing skills and also taught me about the value of intricate designs in the market. Adding new products to my business which I run independently is more satisfying knowing I have a plethora of products to sell. I now do not have to depend on anyone for any monetary assistance.”

She further adds “participating in different events and exhibitions for live demo of wood crafts has also built my confidence. I am now able to design and produce touristic products on wood carving.” The project intervention has made it easy for her to explore her skills, get market linkages and be able network with different individuals and stakeholders. Deepak Basnet, Community Development Officer for the project says “I feel very proud to see Dhanmaya coming out with her own business as I saw her working hard to learn these skills from Basic to Advanced woodcraft training. She has already started taking orders from her woodcraft and that is very inspiring as well as encouraging for us.”