Kamala Majhi is an unlikely financial investor. She didn’t see herself as an investor either, until life in a neighboring village in Nepal improved drastically.
Access to water in countries like Nepal is critical for everyone, particularly women, since water affects the health of their families, their crop yields and especially their workload. It is not uncommon for women to spend up to four hours a day carrying water to their families. A World Neighbors organization
in Nepal visited Kamala’s Bhaluwajor village to see what interest the community
had in constructing a new water system.

It was explained that in order to install a new water system, the villagers would need to donate their labor, find local materials, and create a repair and maintenance fund with their own financial contributions. None of these tasks, however, contributed to the next meal for Kamala or her community. Dedicating time and effort – not to mention what miniscule amount of extra money they had – seemed a risky enterprise. Failed results could push Bhaluwajor even deeper into poverty. So, Kamala’s village did not respond.

At the same time, news arrived that life in the neighboring Kudahar village was changing fast, since the construction of their own new drinking water system. Better fodder and fuel wood followed, which led to healthy goats and pigs, ready to be sold for extra income. Small business and micro-enterprise loans were available, thanks to the repair and maintenance fund required for the drinking system. People in Kudahar could avoid local loan sharks, their only source of
additional money since banks are absent in such remote locations.

Kamala’s village elders called for everyone to gather under the mango tree to discuss putting in the new system. Even the women were invited as the elders knew that a community effort would be required for the project to succeed. Life in Bhaluwajor could not improve as it had in Kudahar if there was not unanimity among the participants. Bhaluwajor installed their own community drinking water system.

Today, Kamala and the women of Bhaluwajor operate their own savings and credit group. At the group’s meetings, the women learn about family planning and other health services. “Our young children hardly die of the illnesses like before,” says Kamala. Basic medicine is affordable because of loans for women in Bhaluwajor. Almost every home has a water-sealed latrine, a metal roof and a
fuel-efficient smokeless stove. In addition, each child attends primary school. Now, it is other villages who look to Kamala and the Bhaluwajor village to learn.

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