Jasmati Pun (42 years) is a permanent resident of Ward No. 6, Muna VDC, Myagdi District. She has three sons aged 7, 12, and 15 years. One of them is a GNI sponsored child. The family lives in a small old style house- made of stone and wood. They own a small plot of land and the crop yield is not sufficient to feed them an entire year. Paddy cannot be grown in the land. Previously, they had to wait for special occasions for a meal of rice. Jashmati toiled day and night to make ends meet.

The local Parents Group recommended her for participating in the tailoring (‘sewing-cutting’) training. She is one of the ten single woman trainees selected for the training.  She completed a five months ‘sewing-cutting’ training conducted in her village with the financial support from Myagdi Community Development Project (CDP). Myagdi (CDP) provided her a sewing and interlock machine along with  iron, scale, scissor, and measuring tape.

Currently, she runs a tailoring shop in her village.  The income from the shop has helped the family to get out of extreme poverty. She is also involved in a small scale vegetable farming- bringing in extra income.  The boys also have plenty of time for their studies as they don’t have to work the fields.

As there is no other tailoring center in Muna VDC, she gets ‘orders’ constantly.  Not only her income has risen considerably but she is making a handsome profit, which is proven by the sixty thousand rupees she has deposited in a local cooperative.

She has proven that hard work and determination always pay off at the end. As a successful entrepreneur, she has become an example to other single and married women in the entire VDC.