INNOVATOR 02: SAJANA BHADEL

Champak Namuna Home

I am Sajana Bhadel, was born and brought up in a small village, Changunarayan. I always felt blessed to live here. Changunarayan is a small village, where the majority of people are categorized in a marginalized group. I am a Chairperson of Girls Empowered by Travel (is travel a company? Then Tavel. Inc).

My village is truly beautiful, which Changunarayan is also a home of Lord Bishnu since ancient times. It is listed in the world heritage site because of its pristine beauty and traditional pagoda style. The greenery pine forest, wide range of mountain and a perfect view of the valley from the top of the hill in where diverse cultural, traditional festivals, and traditional lifestyle are well-integrated, and hospitable and lovely people are the major attraction of this village.

 However, one-third of people of the village are still living below the poverty line in spite of the potential to be. Agriculture is the main source of income, which is practiced in the traditional style. So people are living in subsistence farming, which isn't of high-value crops. In addition, our social structure is male-dominated, where women are undoubtedly the backbone of the society but unfortunately, their services and activities aren’t counted in GDP. More than half of the women are engaged in the agriculture. Women and girls have been suffering from different health and psychological issues. (why?) Early marriage, prolapsed uterus, miscarriage, and economic dependency are major causes for a girl to be prone to be easily victimized.

The role of women in the society has slowly revolutionized; women/girls are sent school and they even get the higher education. But when they are ready to land the perfect job, their parents force them to get married. In the case of a daughter in law, they are given the role to take care of household chores, bear the child and take care of the babies. They never get time to leave the house and contribute in the economic sector though they are capable. However, some of them are preventable problems in our society.

I somehow got the opportunity to attend 9 days boot camp, which was organized by INNOCO/UAE-Youth Cluster in ICA training center. I thought myself lucky to be the part of the program. The program was all about the social innovation, win-win ideas. During the workshop, I felt everyday was full of surprises, every moment energized, and brought us near to our own true potential, “ME=WE” was the most interesting and important lesson we learned. The field visit at Patale Gaun Organic Farm in order to know the food system and the importance of organic food were the unforgettable heartfelt moment.

Every participant has to pitch the project in the last day, we were asked to choose the topic three days earlier. I couldn’t sleep whole night for three days. There were so many ideas which were bursting/bubbling out but finally I had this home stay idea. Our program director, Yungsun, program facilitator Joanne and Sarah polished my ideas. These lovely people assisted me to think about critical ingredients of making social enterprise attractive and feasible.

Being a student of Economics, uplifting the economic status of my village is always in high priority of my life. So, I am trying my best to bring my dream project into reality.

‘Champak Namuna Home’ is a homestay social enterprise.

What is a homestay? ‘Homestay’ is simply to stay where guests stay in a local villagers’ home where they get to partake in the activities of the house and village, instead of being put up in a lodge or hotel. Guests are invited to their house as family members by the host family and get a chance to spend time with them participating any home activates and observing their customs, values, and culture. 

Homestay can be an excellent tool for the reduction of rural poverty and empowerment of the local community, for whom are marginalized and vulnerable especially brilliant women with full potential. It integrates all activities of tourism like trekking, cultural and eco-tourism. In this project, we will provide these activities, as well as focus on all aspects of women’s issues.  

Please note that Champak Namuna Home offer 

• Cycling  
• Local girl tour guide for cultural hike
• Thangka class
• Wood Carve class
• Traditional style of making fabric or scarves
• Research assistance for archaeological study
• Authentic local experiences of food and cultures. 
• Cultural experience of ancient lifestyle from 7-8th century
• Video making of local brewery  
• Organic garden farming
• Cultural and local festival observations
• Cultural exchange program
• Special class for making felt shoes 

If you are looking for a volunteer if your answer is ‘YES’ then please join us. We offer different volunteering activities. 

• Teaching English/Health/Environment/Physics at Public/Government school
•  Plastic Ban campaign 
• Traveling Edu session (Teach how to travel safely as being girl) 
• Cultural Exchange program (cooking different dishes) 
• Women English Class at village 
• Organizing the program to empower the young girls and women 
• Vocational training for women 
• Computer training for women/girl 
• Education of hygiene and cleanliness

You also can find us in
Booking.com-https://booki.ng/2vIOEYs
Airbnb.com- http://bit.ly/2uVYuDj
Facebook id-https://www.facebook.com/GEThomestayNepal/

I am grateful to all INNOCO team and all the facilitators they were always our guardians and hope to meet them again to learn and share. Stay tuned for the first homestay action in the following posts.