Prithvi Raj Kurmi was 30 years old when his father passed away leaving him with the responsibility of supporting his extended family.
Without employment Prithvi found it difficult to provide an education for his children and put food on the table each day. It was during the months that followed his father’s death that INF began working in Prithvi’s village of Gangariya in Kapilvastu, Western Nepal.
Prithvi joined an INF facilitated Self-Help Group [SHG], which began raising awareness and training around how to work together as a community.
The group discussed social problems including child marriage, poor waste management and a lack of maternal and child health education. Slowly the group began addressing each issue and members began raising awareness through a door knocking campaign. As a result the prevalence of child marriage has been reduced, the community has developed a waste management plan, maternal and child health is being addressed and a transformation is taking place across the community.
Part of that transformation has seen Prithvi able to gain financial assistance through the group’s revolving fund providing economic assistance and enabling him to start his own business. He is now able to provide for his own family, educate his children and has also had the opportunity to become the group’s facilitator.
Prithvi is thankful to INF for helping his community transform and make change for themselves.
Self-Help Groups play a key role in INF’s Community Health and Development work across hundreds of communities in Western Nepal.