Income Generation
HHC recognizes that poverty and poor health go hand in hand.
HHC has provided seed money and training for several income generation projects since 1993. We have employed approaches to income generation that take advantage of both individual entrepreneurial initiative and community responsibility and support. This latter approach, first developed by the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, has been widely praised as a low risk way of enabling the poor, particularly women, to improve their families' lives.
One of our first projects focused on the Kami, the blacksmiths, who are the most economically deprived and socially isolated ethnic group in all of Nepal. In 1993, HHC provided the first lot of iron and aluminum for the production and sale of Khukuri (Ghurka knives).
An all-women Angora rabbit project was started in Sherthung and Tipling in 1996 to help women literacy participants supplement the family income. The bigger goal of the project is to create self-reliance and spirit of freedom amongst the neo-literate women. The Angora rabbit hair, which is harvested without harm to the animals, is used to spin yarn and knit woolen garments like sweaters, mufflers, shawls and caps.
Recent income generation initiatives have included cardamom spice and allo fiber farming. In both cases, HHC provided seedlings and support for establishing these crops.
One of HHC's most important income generation activities has been a collaboration with the S.P.I.R.A.L. Foundation to promote the international sale of locally manufactured handicrafts. This collaboration has allowed approximately four hundred women to earn additional income, while simultaneously generating substantial donations for HHC's other programs.
