Rajarām Chaudhary comes from a very poor family. He is 38 years old. There are a total of four people living in his house, including his wife, their daughter and son, and himself. They live in Ward No. 11 of Gauriganj Municipality, Kailali district. Due to his very weak financial condition, he was only able to study up to 8th grade. He worked as a laborer in India from a very young age. A few years later, his elder brother got married and they separated house. Rajaram got married but wife’s disability made it difficult for the family to manage their household affairs. They only own 7 katthas of land. After a few years of marriage, Rajaram had to go back to work in India to provide for his children’s happiness. Afterward, he returned to his own country and decided to start his own business, so he opened a small grocery store at his home. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his business suffered greatly. He then considered going back to India, but he heard that the Digo Bikash Samaj had launched a program to promote entrepreneurship and decided to stay. He asked about it with many people.
After that, in the year 2078, he was selected for the small business support program operated under the joint partnership of Digo Bikash Samaj, Bhajani and World Vision International Nepal for a nutrition and resilient livelihood (NRL) project. Upon the recommendation of the Ward Office, he received materials worth around 40 thousand rupees for the business support program. After that, he also gathered the courage to open a shop. He says, “I gathered the courage to start a business and later Digo Bikash Samaj provided various types of training.” He took a loan and invested an additional 10,000 rupees in his business and is now running his own shop at home and also making snacks. His daily sales range from 800 to 1000 rupees. He is saving 100 rupees every day in the farmers’ group he started in the village. He says that there has been some improvement from his previous situation. “To successfully run a grocery store is a matter of great pride. One must always be dedicated to this business and have a mindset to expand it. Thanks to Digo Bikash Samaj, I have been able to create self-employment and I will never forget the support they provided me with. I will always be grateful to Digo Bikash Samaj for their contribution to my success.” he said.