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Unity has made
us stronger

Rati Ram Tharu is 42 years old and lives in Dhadihawa. He has three very distinct measurements for the improvements he has experienced after joining the husband and wife group supported by ‘Sunshine Social Development Organisation’ – a local NGO related to MS Nepal partner organization Kalika Self-Reliance Social Centre (KSSC). “I can read and write. I have become confident in claiming my rights from my land lord. And I now eat green vegetables along with my rice and lentil soup everyday.”

On group level, Rati Ram Tharu is proud to say that unity is the biggest gain for the 30 members. Before forming the group everybody was concerned about their own business. But after ‘Sunshine’ encouraged the villagers to start saving and have a forum to discuss and learn, things changed radically.

A sense of unity is prevailing in Dhadihawa, according to Rati Ram Tharu: “We help each other. We have agreed to ask our land lords the same pay for our work not less than 90 rupees per day. We now talk with one voice and it is strong. And then we have managed to establish a school. This is a great achievement for all of us. We support each other in sending our children to school because we have discovered the importance of education”.

To Rati Ram the non formal education classes he has attended have proved very useful. He can now find his way to offices in Taulihawa by reading the signs. He can put his own signature. But most important, no one can any longer cheat him when he sells his vegetables. “Three kilos of potatoes worth 5 rupees each is not 13 rupees. It is 15.”

In the same line the land lords, he and his fellow group members occasionally work for, can no longer exploit them: “When we lived in Bhudi VDC I used to work for a land lord from 4 am to 12 pm with only two hours rest. I would earn only 3 to 5 kg rice per day; no money at all. So when my children got sick, how could I then take them to the doctor? We were so poor that we sometimes only ate beaten rice with salt.”

After he and his family moved to Dhadihawa and started cultivating some land, the situation became a little better: “But still we would only eat dal and rice or potato and onions with rice -- never three dishes in one meal. Sometimes we could only afford to eat wheat. I was so surprised to see only wheat coming in, only wheat coming out!”, Rati Ram laughs, amusing all his fellow group members.

Now Rati Ram is happy to tell that his working hours are 8 hours a day. If he has to work for a land lord he assures a decent price for his work and is addressed with respect in a proper language. He can afford to send his children to school and to the doctor as well. And his wife is able to prepare him and his family nutritious food with a variety of green vegetables everyday.