|
 This
is a story of a successful participant belonging to a Sarki
Community (a scheduled cobbler caste community in Nepal) in
Pokhara VDC of Sindhupalchowk District. Murli, a 52 years
old man, was one of the 12 cobblers, who attended a special
70 day long course (on a modular basis) on Village Leather
work organized by SKILL in 1997. The course was organized by
SKILL in partnership with Village Leather Training
Association on the basis of expressed needs of the
disadvantaged community in Sindhupalchowk. During the
training they were taught to process the raw animal hide and
produce village leather. Further they were taught to produce
export oriented bags and goods with the material.
Today, Murli is known in Sindhupalchowk
district as a model craftsman dealing in Village Leather
work. Of course, the Leather work course can be seen as a
clear departure not only from the type of training programme
being organized by SKILL in the past but also a departure
from SKILL's definition of the age group for target
beneficiaries i.e., from 15-30 years old. Nevertheless, from
the description given below, one can amply see the
justification of this programme.
Prior to the training, Murli’s economic
condition was very weak. He didn’t own any land thus
cultivated in others land as a tenant. He couldn’t afford to
feed his family for a year and he had no off farm income. He
couldn’t afford to buy uniform for his children. But his
life changed after the training. In a span of two years, he
managed to earn as much as Rs. 100,000 by using the skills
learnt in the training. His creations are widely displayed
and sold in many popular leather goods shops in Thamel,
including Zenith Leather Shop. He has added a 'Laure bhaise'
(a she-buffalo from India, famous for milking) and 6
ropanies of Pakho Land to his asset. He can afford to
buy new clothes for his family now and was able to arrange a
feast on the occasion of his daughter's marriage with the
earnings from leather works. He has also deposited some of
his earnings in the local bank.
Another important fact is that Murli
Sarki has trained his family members and 4 other subsistence
farmers in new leather processing and leather bag stitching
skills. |
